Stories From Vegas stated in late 1996, when Ed Walters joined The Sinatra Mailing List* (known in the stories as The Temple List). These stories were called The Pit Boss Replies, because they were in direct response to questions someone from The Temple List would ask Ed. It was fascinating to hear first-hand how Sinatra and his friends really behaved at The Sands. New The Pit Boss Replies stories appear to this day on The Temple List and onThe Voice Mailing List (an invitation-only group).

I had the pleasure of meeting Ed during FrankFest98, a gathering of fans held in Atlantic City in October, 1998. Ed was invited by the promoter, Rick Apt, to share his stories with the fans. Ed talked to us for over 2 hours at the Saturday banquet. We came away emotionally drained, yet with a better understanding of what made Sinatra tick. And Ed learned that these fans really cared about the man and his music. We were honest with him, and he returned the openess.

I was asked if I could give Ed a ride to New York City, so that he could visit his old stomping grounds - places he hadn't seen in over 30 years. Let me tell you, it was the best three-hour car ride I ever had. With Sinatra and Basie as "background music", we didn't stop talking about Sinatra, Vegas, New York and music all the way. When I dropped him off at The Gramercy Park Hotel, I was sad to have such an experience come to an end.

The next year, we all met up again at FrankFest99. Again Ed regailed us with stories, and again I brought him from Atlantic City to Gramcery Park. It was during this ride that I asked Ed if I could share these stories with our cyberfans via my Songs By Sinatra website. He agreed, and now they are here for everyone to enjoy.

I have edited the stories only to remove direct reference to those who may have posed the original question and to clear up some syntax (or other grammer-related issues). The bulk of these Stories From Vegas are as they appeared originally on The Sinatra Mailing List.

Tom Rednour, Songs By Sinatra website author

If you have any comments on Stories From Vegas, or would like to send a note to "The Pit Boss", please use this link: Stories From Vegas message link. Notes to Ed will be forwarded.

Most of the photos of The Sands used in these stories are from "Dino At The Sands," an exhibition from UNLV Special Collections department of the UNLV Library. There are many, many more great photos of Frank, Dean, Sammy and others taken during the hey-day of "Life At The Sands." Highly reccommended.