Richard Hoffer

Richard Hoffer, the Santa Barbara-based writer who examines Sin City's reason for being in "Why Vegas?", visits that fast-growing city as many as 10 times a year to report on boxing for Sports Illustrated. "Vegas always makes me laugh," he says. "It's excess just for the sake of excess. It's a glorious hallucination." He also wrote the acclaimed boxing book A Savage Business: The Comeback and Comedown of Mike Tyson.

Disney Turns 50

Why Vegas? : Fun-loving and Fast-growing