Author to speak on Vanishing Village
By NISHELLE ROBBINS
Special to the PVT
So you think Pahrump is a small town? Try the town of Blue Diamond.
Blue Diamond had 282 residents as of the 2000 census, and according to Evan Blythin, that number probably doesn’t change too much.
Blythin is the author of Vanishing Village: The Struggle for Community in the New West. This book describes the lives of the people who make up the small town. His book covers every topic important to this town, from community service to recreation to law enforcement.
There are even a few more comically titled but serious chapters about such matters as public urination.
Blythin describes how the small town remains small, despite sitting 25 miles outside of one of the biggest tourist cities in the world: Las Vegas. The main way the town stays small is its care in accepting outsiders. Blythin experienced this when he first moved to the town, and his experiences going through “initiation” are some of the most interesting writing in the book.