Glenn Schaeffer

Glenn Schaeffer graduated in four years summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with his BA and MA in Literature from the University of California Irvine. He earned his MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop in 1977. During his 30-year career in the gaming industry, he served for nearly 20 years as president and chief financial officer of Mandalay Resort Group (sold to MGM Resorts International). He is co-founder and CEO of Perpetual Gaming, a slot-machine company based in Las Vegas. Las Vegas Magazine has profiled him as one of the five inventors of modern Las Vegas and Institutional Investor has profiled him as one of America’s top ten corporate financiers. From 1999-2005, he was the world’s leading site promoter for championship boxing. A literary activist, Glenn assists writers of conscience who face persecution or censorship abroad, having established Las Vegas as the first U.S. city of asylum, and with Black Mountain Institute at UNLV, he fosters the role of the humanities and public intellectuals in issues of contemporary society. He is also principal of Intellectual Property Group, a Hollywood literary agency that represents writers such as Don DeLillo, Joyce Carol Oates, James Ellroy, Dennis Lehane, Michael Connelly, Dr. Timothy LeHoye and Nobelist Liu Xiaobo. His theatrical production Doors of Perception debuts soon on the Las Vegas Strip, a participatory experience featuring installations by master artists such as James Turrell, Yayoi Kusama, Tony Oursler and Ai Wei Wei. He also played himself in the NBC television series Las Vegas. His honorary doctorates are LLD, University of Nevada Las Vegas and LHD, Victoria University, New Zealand. Influences: Vance Bourjaily, Oakley Hall, Ed Doctorow, Wole Soyinka, Peter Drucker, Dave Hickey -- teachers all. Literary influences: First and last pages of "The Great Gatsby," "From Here to Eternity," "Light in August" and "The Bear;" Doctorow’s "Welcome to Hard Times;" Kennedy’s "Billy Phelon’s Greatest Game;" Burgess' "Ernest Hemingway and His World;" Joan Magretta’s "What Is Management?;" McGuane’s "92 in the Shade." Quotes: Einstein, “Only two properties appear infinite, the universe and man’s stupidity. The former is subject to disproof.” Hunter Thompson, “When the going gets weird, the weird go pro.” Who quotes themselves? Here goes: Schaeffer, “Follow your voice; it won’t shut up anyway.” Or “When failing, opt for speed.”