Voice of his village

Retired UNLV professor's book about Blue Diamond laments vanishing way of life

jerry henkel/viewRetired UNLV communications professor Evan Blythin pays a visit this month to the wild burros that congregate in the Blue Diamond village park. jerry henkel/viewRetired UNLV communications studies professor Evan Blythin, author of "Vanishing Village," poses with his guitar on an abandoned piece of heavy machinery parked in his beloved village of Blue Diamond, June 11. Advertisement

Evan Blythin has lived in Blue Diamond for 32 years. For a number of those years, he knew he would one day write a book about his rural home. That ambition was realized when "Vanishing Village: The Struggle for Community in the New West" hit bookstores this month.

Bythin, 67, a retired UNLV professor of communications studies, said the book is a universal story.

"The whole world has moved from rural sensitivities to more of an urban-industrial kind of sensitivity, and what I write about can be discussed in any community," he said. "Blue Diamond has changed dramatically, but so has the rest of the world. I don't long for the old days, but we need to keep an eye on what we're losing."

In his 197-page paperback book released June 1, Blythin contrasts how everyday problems are handled in the village of Blue Diamond and in nearby Las Vegas, which he describes as a "megalopolis." The author's concern is that it's becoming increasingly difficult for Blue Diamond to maintain its uniqueness as the growing metropolitan area inches closer and closer. Chapters are devoted to how issues such as law enforcement, neglected kids, drug use, homelessness and community service are handled in the village.

Blue Diamond is in the southwestern valley about 15 miles west of Interstate 15 and only a half-mile from the boundary of Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.

Before the book was published, Blythin asked about 10 of his neighbors to read early drafts to ensure that he wasn't misrepresenting anyone or anything. Pat van Betten, who chairs the Blue Diamond History Committee, reviewed a manuscipt and found the book extremely honest, she said.

"Evan is an astute observer who has a way of putting things together and connecting his early observations and village activities with what's going on now," she said. "His insights illustrate the similarities and the contrasts. We work hard here to preserve our rural atmosphere, and because we are part of a conservation area, we feel a sense of obligation to preserve it from encroachment. Evan plays a leadership role in that arena because he has seen so much. There has always been a great sense of community in Blue Diamond, and this book will make people more aware of this and hopefully get them to work even harder to preserve it."

"Vanishing Village" was published by CityLife Books, a unit of Stephens Media, which also publishes View Neighborhood Newspapers.

Blythin, who began writing the book two years ago, said the village is more livable and appealing than ever.

"Many wonderful people with new ideas have moved here to make it better," he said. "Things are great because we're so small and still rely on one another. At times I'm compelled to look elsewhere because of what politicians have done and are still doing, but I'm a desert rat and it would be difficult to move away at this time. I'm probably where I should be right now."

The village of Blue Diamond was founded as a gypsum-mining town in 1924 by the Blue Diamond Co. of Los Angeles. Almost a century earlier, from 1830 to 1848, the place was known as Cottonwood Springs, a stop on the Old Spanish Trail for traders traveling between Santa Fe, N.M., and California.

In Chapter 1, "My Village," Blythin writes that he and his wife were drawn to Blue Diamond three decades ago by "its beauty, its distance from the large urban center 25 miles away, and the closeness of the native environment. We were part of a migration, one of many families escaping the urban landscape for a more rural settling, like Romans fleeing the decline of empire."

In another passage, Blythin writes about what binds the community.

"We are all tied together by proximity, family ties, common needs, and by the fact of being so few. There is a lot of interaction here. We touch one another in our daily lives and relate in ways that may be impossible for those who live in the electronic global village."

Blythin grew up in rural Arizona. He received his doctorate from the University of Colorado and eventually retired from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, after 30 years of teaching and doing research in communications studies. In addition to publishing numerous article and books in his field, he is a sculptor and musician.

Blythin said Blue Diamond is welcoming to newcomers, but they have to go through the same process he and his wife did when they first arrived.

"It's hard to settle in no matter where you move," he said. "I believe this book can be applied to all neighborhoods anywhere in the world. Community can be wherever people live if they are willing to work at it, such as block picnics and activities for kids with adult supervision. It can be formed in any number of different ways. A village gives you a broader family that keeps an eye out for one another. In our village, we empathize with each other and assist one another."