Jordan’s king gives Sheehan prized interview
Las Vegas author Jack Sheehan has interviewed U.S. presidents, sports and entertainment legends, shady ladies, a drug kingpin and a local kingmaker.
Sheehan never imagined he would someday have the ear of an actual king.
"The only king I interviewed was B.B. King," said Sheehan, a Las Vegas resident since the mid-1970s.
The improbable opportunity happened a week ago, when King Abdullah of Jordan granted Sheehan a one-hour sitdown in a New York City hotel, with a security force numbering 30 members. The interview took place on the 36th floor of the Mandarin Oriental.
Sheehan is writing a full-length biography on Tom Moriarty, a decorated Vietnam veteran, former DEA agent and former member of a security detail charged with protecting King Hussein's two sons, Abdullah and Faisel during the 1970s.
Moriarty, who died May 30 in Springfield, Mass., was the father of Rich Moriarty, one of the owners of Las Vegas-based Union Gaming, and Sean Moriarty, former CEO of Ticketmaster and current CEO of Demand Media, a publicly traded online content company.
Sean Moriarty accompanied Sheehan on the trip to New York. Sheehan met with Abdullah two days before the king addressed the United Nations General Assembly.
The focus of the interview was King Abdullah's relationship with Tom Moriarty while Abdullah was attending fifth grade through 12th grade at Deerfield Academy in western Massachusetts.
Sheehan said King Abdullah said, "Tom was like a surrogate uncle to me, because during those years I spent more time with him than with my own father."
Tom Moriarty, in an interview with Sheehan, had joked that all he had taught Abdullah was how to smoke cigars and use the "F" word.
"The king laughed heartily when I told him that," said Sheehan, "and he said what he really learned from Tom was leadership, humility and the right way to treat people."
He added, "Abdullah loved Tom Moriarty, invited him and his wife to his wedding in Jordan, and called him two days before he died to have one last conversation."
The biography of Tom Moriarty will be titled "Soldier" and centers on the Vietnam War.
Media update
Not having a live television broadcast of the UNLV-UNR football game Saturday was lame enough, but having fans endure a radio broadcast that repeatedly went off the air was inexcusable. ...
Former KXNT-AM (840) co-hosts Alan Stock and Heidi Harris are rejoining the CBS affiliate, but not reuniting. Harris will host the morning show and Stock will have the 3 to 6 p.m. time slot. "We're going back to our conservative roots," vice president of programming Cat Thomas said. Harris will fill the void left by the departures of morning shows hosted by Carlos Diaz and Dayna Roselli. Harris and Stock teamed up at KXNT for nearly five years, from 2001 to 2006. Both later joined KDWN-AM (720). ...
Rick Harrison of the hit reality show "Pawn Stars" will be my next guest on "Conversations With Norm" on Dec. 9 at The Smith Center's Cabaret Jazz. It will be held on a Thursday at 7:30 p.m. instead of the usual Sunday at 2:30 p.m. We'll announce later when tickets go on sale.
On this day
Oct 4, 2003: Illusionist Roy Horn was fighting for his life a day after being mauled by a 380-pound white tiger, Mantecore, during the Siegfried & Roy show at the Mirage. Horn recovered from severe neck wounds, but the Siegfried & Roy show, which combined magic, theatrics and exotic animals, ended its record-breaking run that night. The incident took place on Horn's 59th birthday.
Sightings
Matt Greene, Las Vegas Kings defenseman, dining at Crush (MGM Grand) on Friday. ... Rapper Pitbull, taking in "Absinthe" (Caesars Palace) on Thursday. ... Planet Hollywood headliner Jeff Dunham and his wife, Audrey, meeting with Celine Dion before her show on Wednesday at the Colosseum (Caesars Palace).
The punch line
"Congrats to the Toronto Blue Jays for making the playoffs for the first time in 22 years. Nothing says 'America's pastime' more than a bunch of guys from the Dominican Republic playing for a team in Canada." — Jimmy Fallon
— Norm Clarke's column appears Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. He can be reached at 702-383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com. Find more online at www.normclarke.com. Follow him: @Norm_Clarke
