This website would not exist without Mary Herczog. It's really just that simple.
Mary and I met in 1989 while working at a big Hollywood talent agency and we immediately clung together as two of the only seemingly decent people in the company. We shared similar tastes in pop culture, similar disdains for the falsity of the entertainment industry (as a general rule), and similar loves of everything involving food. We joked many times that we shared the same brain and so there really was no choice back then but for us to become best friends. And so we did.
Somewhere around 1996, Mary was asked to write a piece about celebrity gravesites, one of her many arcane yet utterly charming passions, for the Frommer's Los Angeles book. The Frommer's folks loved her story so much that when the Las Vegas book became available they asked her to write it.
Knowing that I was a big fan of Vegas and had spent entirely too much time there over the years (and since we shared the same brain remember) Mary very kindly asked me to write the book with her and "Frommer's Las Vegas 1997" by Mary Herczog and Rick Garman was born.
Mary took over the book by herself the following year while I used the knowledge I had gained in the effort to write "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Las Vegas" and launch a little experiment called Vegas4Visitors.com.
We continued to work on our separate projects but shared Vegas war stories and information often. Since she was never much of a gambler, I would give her casino tips and tricks and since I love food but she was a true epicurean she would clue me into some great restaurant gems. We took many a road trip to Vegas together, laughing along with its over-the-top wonderful wackiness.
I was in Las Vegas in 1997 when I called Mary from a pay phone at the Luxor (the attractions level, right next to the old IMAX theater) to tell her about something - I don't remember what. But she had something to tell me, too. She had just been diagnosed with breast cancer. She was 33.
I panicked, of course, but then shortly thereafter fell into action. One of my first stops? The Liberace Museum so I could pick her up a bejeweled baseball cap to wear when she lost her hair during chemotherapy.
Mary beat cancer that first time, kicking it's ass into remission after a year or so of grueling treatment, which she handled with her usual "what are you gonna do?" shrugs. Everyone was completely captivated by her spirit during that, which was almost always upbeat in terms of her prognosis. The idea that cancer could win that particular battle just wasn't part of her thought process, or at least not one that she showed any of us.
We celebrated with frequent trips to Vegas and even when we couldn't go together we dished Vegas dish. I even published an entire story back in 2001 on this site entitled "What Mary Ate." It's worth noting that Capriotti's is on that list. Told you she knew food.
When the cancer came back a few years later, metastized to her liver, the prognosis was not good. At the time, the five year survival rate on a thing like that was something like 5%. I'm not good at math but I understood odds from Vegas and I knew those were against her.
But Mary kept her head up and kept going. I can't describe her as having a "positive attitude" - it was more that she had an "I can't be bothered with this" kind of attitude. "I don't have time for this." "Really? I have to do this again? But... I need to go to Vegas because they just opened a Ritz-Carlton and I love their beds."
So we went to the Ritz-Carlton and enjoyed their beds. A lot.
We continued our mutual love affair with Las Vegas together even while she branched out and began writing other Frommer's books for California, Bali, and her favorite city in the entire world, New Orleans. She continued working her other Hollywood type jobs and even began studying to get her PhD in Philosphy.
Despite those bad odds, Mary beat them again and was cancer free.
But like that face card you don't want to see in blackjack when you're drawing on 13, the cancer returned in full force in late 2005, again in her liver. The last few years have been virtually non-stop in terms of treatment, but she remained non-stop through it, continuing her studies, continuing her work, continuing her series of essays about the disease on CancerChick.com, and continuing her friendship with me. It was because of that friendship that we decided to embark on a series of road trips that we chronicled as Plucky Survivors See America, which were featured on our website PluckySurvivors.com and here on Vegas4Visitors.com.
On February 16, 2010, Mary Herczog - travel writer, lover of good food, loving wife, best friend, and so much more - died in her home, surrounded by family and friends. I had just said to her, "We're going to go get on a plane and fly to Mardi Gras, right Mary?" and moments later she was gone.
She always had great timing.
In one of our last full conversations only about a week ago, Mary asked me to take over her duties for the Frommer's Las Vegas guide book. The very kind folks at Frommer's have agreed to honor her request and my first edition of that book will be available for 2011. But I'd like to highly recommend that you pick up a copy of Mary's last edition, the Frommer's Las Vegas 2010
, which is available now. That would have meant a lot to her and it certainly does to me.
Las Vegas won't be the same without her. And neither will all of those of us who knew and loved her.
Please note that there may not be regular columns over the next couple of weeks as we plan and prepare for the memorial service.
In lieu of flowers, Mary asked that donations be made to charity. Find out more.
More about Mary
CancerChick.com
PluckySurvivors.com
Los Angeles Times Obituary
Tribute on Frommers.com
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