This book explains how Native American Casinos became the largest group of casinos in America as a result of the efforts of Congress, the National Indian Gaming Commission, and the creative management companies and game suppliers that served the tribes. This book is the biography of Gordon Graves, whom many consider being the Father of Indian Gaming. It tracks his early career in military electronics as the field matured from using large analog machines to inventing and utilizing digital computers. Graves then transformed his career as an accomplished engineer involved with military systems to become an entrepreneur in numerous fields, concluding in Indian gaming while building a business (Multimedia Games) worth over a billion dollars. Graves saw the future for Indian gaming and fought alongside the Indians through the courts to develop the industry into what it is today, a forty billion-dollar business. It was a wild ride!
Newell, Michael E.: - Michael E. Newell retired from the gaming industry in 2016, culminating in a career spanning nearly forty years. Since Newell's grade school days, he has always been a passionate reader and yearned to write. In 2012, Newell published his first fiction novel, "The Killers in Gilbourne County," and it received rave reviews. In 2018, Newell penned his second novel, "The Survivors," an action/adventure/the rule of law drama that also played well with readers. Newell's latest work, "Westerly," was published early in 2019. Westerly is a family drama and is a real tear-jerker according to reader feedback. Newell has also written tributary pieces on request, some poetry, and short stories. www.newellreadings.com. When the opportunity presented itself to write Gordon Graves's biography, Newell jumped at the chance because he knew Graves personally, and they shared intertwining careers dating back to 1977. In 1977, Newell worked as a supervisor of computer operations for Datatrol, a startup company that won the contract to operate the numbers game lottery system for Michigan. At Datatrol, Newell rub elbows with Gordon Graves, Bob Stern (Stern was a longtime associate of Graves), and many others who were beginning their gaming careers. Later in 1988, Bob Stern recruited Newell to join a team (Gamma International) operating a satellite bingo game for Native American peoples on their lands. Newell was eager for the opportunity and again came in direct contact with Gordon Graves. It was Graves who designed the satellite bingo concept and organized the company to operate the game. In time, Gamma International became MegaBingo Inc., which then became MGAM (all ran by Graves), and Newell experienced the true meaning of what it took to build a startup company and make it work. He also recognized the creative genius of Gordon Graves, who took Indian gaming to a level never imagined, which thrives as a premier industry earning near $40 billion annually. Newell had this to say about assisting Graves with his biography, "Relating the experience of seeing the Indian Gaming industry expand to the economic powerhouse it became through Graves's biography is a real honor." Newell is a Vietnam Service Medal veteran and has been married to his wife, Linda, since 1970. The Newells live in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
