Thursday, August 14, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Mercury

The Literary Issue: Poet, but you don't know it

Nevada's poet laureate serves in relative obscurity

By Lynnette Curtis

If you've heard of Norman Kaye, chances are it's not because of his poetry.

In fact, though he has served as Nevada's official state poet laureate for the past 37 years, Kaye says he's never actually published a poem.

And he hasn't exactly been overbooked as our state's bardic ambassador, either. In nearly four decades, Kaye says he's had a grand total of "maybe a dozen" requests to read poetry in public. "I used to read for some of the women's clubs around town," he says. But, now, "They don't call me, and I don't call them."

So just how did Kaye, for whom writing poetry is merely a now-and-then hobby, become poet laureate of Nevada? Turns out, back in 1966, then-Gov. Grant Sawyer was a big fan of Kaye's music. At the time, Kaye was a member of the Mary Kaye Trio, a popular singing group of the '50s and '60s and an important part of Las Vegas' musical history. The trio, which included Kaye, his sister Mary and singer and accordionist Frank Ross, is known for practically inventing the Vegas lounge act in the late 1940s. The group went on to cut about 15 albums and headline all over town--at the old Last Frontier, the Sahara and the Trop--playing with the likes of Sammy Davis Jr. After the group split up in 1966, Kaye went on to build a successful Las Vegas real estate business.

The now 80-year-old Kaye says Sawyer appointed him poet laureate for his songwriting skills and because he was an entertainment leader. "Grant liked the way I wrote music," he says.

The honor didn't come with any kind of official ceremony. No one bought Kaye dinner, a celebratory bottle of wine, not even a plaque. "Grant just called me up and said, `I want you to be poet laureate,'" Kaye remembers. "I said, `I appreciate that. Poet laureate of what?'"

And Kaye has managed to monopolize the unpaid position ever since, though he's never been totally clear about what his official duties may be. "I think you just accept it," he says. "It's an honor. I was thrilled."

When Sawyer finished his term, Gov.-elect Paul Laxalt sent Kaye a letter to renew his post as poet laureate. "Laxalt said, `We're lucky to have you,'" Kaye says.

None of the five successive Nevada governors has bothered with anything as formal as a letter. But Kaye says they were all aware of his position, and he has received phone calls from each of them. "Bob List was delighted to have me," he says. "Gov. Bryan was very friendly. And Gov. Guinn is a friend of mine. I sent him a copy of one of my poems, and he loved it."

Kaye says he doesn't feel under-appreciated, though none of the governors has asked him to help with any poetry-related needs they might have. "I get all the attention I want to get," he says. "I could make a big stink about it if I wanted to."

Kaye wrote songs for the Mary Kaye Trio, penned "Throw a Dime My Way"--which became the theme song for the national March of Dimes--and collected musical odes to Las Vegas, Reno and Carson City in his The Nevada Songbook. He has appeared in nightclubs all over the world, and even entertained troops in Vietnam during the war. The Casino Legends Hall of Fame inducted him as a member in 1999.

Kaye is only the third poet laureate in Nevada history, and by far the longest-serving. His term is indefinite.

"They could fire me at anytime," he says. But he thinks that's unlikely. "I've survived seven governors."