Let's Get Going!

Let's Get Going! is the story of Art Smith, a railroad machinist's son born in 1922 who became the top banker in Nevada. His father worked for the Southern Pacific, and the family lived in the railroad town of Sparks. When he graduated from high school, Smith worked for the railroad himself before taking a job as a clerk in the local branch of the First National Bank. After serving as a naval aviator during World War II, he returned to banking and eventually rose to head banks in Las Vegas and later in Reno. When he retired in 1984, Smith was chairman and CEO of First Interstate Bank of Nevada, by far the largest bank in the state.
    Art Smith's career spanned four decades of unprecedented population growth and economic expansion which transformed Nevada from a frontier state to a booming, urbanized tourist destination. From bank robberies to nuclear testing to the financing of the gaming industry, Let's Get Going! is filled with behind-the-scenes information about a turbulent period in Nevada history. It is an insider's look at many of the events, people, and phenomena that shaped the Nevada of today.

"People who believe that commercial banking is dull are in for a pleasant surprise...."
     Rollan Melton, Reno Gazette-Journal

Art Smith. Let's Get Going! Reno: UNOHP, 1996. (237 pages, 10 photo pages, $21.95)