Matthew O'Brien
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Matthew O'Brien (born in 1970) is an American author, journalist, editor and teacher who writes about the seedier side of
Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
. His most well-known work is the nonfiction book '' Beneath the Neon'', which documents the homeless population living in the underground flood channels of the
Las Vegas Valley The Las Vegas Valley is a major metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada, and the second largest in the Southwestern United States. The state's largest urban agglomeration, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Statistical Area i ...
. He lived in Las Vegas from 1997 to 2017.


Early life and education

O'Brien, who grew up in the Atlanta, Georgia, area, graduated in 1988 from Decatur High School, where he was a shooting guard on the basketball team. He attended
Georgia State University Georgia State University (Georgia State, State, or GSU) is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1913, it is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities. It is also the largest institution of hig ...
and was a member of the team that advanced to the 1991 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. He was also a member of the
University of West Georgia The University of West Georgia is a public university in Carrollton, Georgia. The university offers a satellite campus in Newnan, Georgia, select classes at its Douglasville Center, and off-campus Museum Studies classes at the Atlanta History Ce ...
's 1993-'94 team, which qualified for the
NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament The NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament (officially styled by the NCAA as a "Championship" instead of a "Tournament") is an annual championship tournament for colleges and universities that are members of NCAA Division II, a grouping of ...
. O'Brien graduated from West Georgia with a
Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
in history. He taught English and in the Honors College at the
University of Nevada, Las Vegas The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. It includes th ...
, where he earned a MFA in creative writing.


Career

He worked as a staff writer, news editor and managing editor of the alternative weekly ''
Las Vegas CityLife ''Las Vegas CityLife'', founded in August 1996, was the oldest alternative weekly newspaper in Southern Nevada and covered news about the Las Vegas Valley and surrounding areas. Coverage included news, politics, arts, and culture reporting in prin ...
'' from 2000 to 2008. While at the paper, he co-wrote two cover stories about exploring the underground flood channels of Las Vegas after reading about Timmy "TJ" Weber, who was suspected (and later convicted) of murdering his girlfriend and her son, raping her daughter and attempting to kill another son. Weber used the drains to evade the police. O'Brien discovered hundreds of homeless people living in the storm drains. His research about and interviews from inside the underground flood channels are detailed in his book ''Beneath the Neon: Life and Death in the Tunnels of Las Vegas'', released in June 2007. This book has been reviewed or written about by several media outlets, including ''
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'', '' Kirkus Reviews'', ''
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'', '' Der Spiegel'', ''
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'', and the '' Atlanta Journal-Constitution''. '' Nightline'', '' The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric'',
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,
CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
,
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, the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
, the
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and other national and international media outlets have done stories about the tunnels and the tunnel-dwellers. CNN's Michael Cary went into the tunnels with O'Brien and described him as "an expert on the more than 300 miles of underground flood channels and its tunnel dwellers." O'Brien's second book, ''My Week at the Blue Angel: And Other Stories from the Storm Drains, Strip Clubs, and Trailer Parks of Las Vegas'', released November 15, 2010, is a collection of creative-nonfiction stories set in off-the-beaten-path Vegas, including the Blue Angel Motel on East
Fremont Street Fremont Street is a street in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada that is the second most famous street in the Las Vegas Valley – and Nevada – besides the Las Vegas Strip. Named in honor of explorer and politician John C. Frémont and located in the h ...
that was known for prostitution, drug dealing and violence, and the case of Jessie Foster, an international endangered missing Canadian woman lured to Las Vegas who disappeared 10 months later. Jessie is thought to be the victim of human trafficking. Earlier versions of many of the stories in the collection were originally cover stories in ''Las Vegas CityLife.'' O'Brien is the founder of Shine a Light, a nonprofit organization that provides housing, drug counseling and other services to the homeless people living in the drains. In a January 2011 article, the ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' described how O'Brien's work in the tunnels "turned into a 4½-year obsession for O'Brien, where he wound up documenting a population he suspects no one except a handful of police officers knew existed." CBS News correspondent Seth Doane, who went underneath the Las Vegas Strip with O'Brien in the summer of 2010, wrote that "O'Brien's interest has turned into advocacy" in his efforts to help the homeless.
American Public Media American Public Media (APM) is an American company that produces and distributes public radio programs in the United States, the second largest company of its type after NPR. Its non-profit parent, American Public Media Group, also owns and o ...
's "The Story" segment covered O'Brien's efforts to help homeless people when they interviewed O'Brien and featured a homeless man in April 2011. On September 3 and 4, 2013, O'Brien appeared on the '' Dr. Phil Show'' in a two-part series after O'Brien escorted professional locator
Troy Dunn Troy Dunn is an American television personality, producer, and public speaker who specializes in creating and producing television that generally includes reuniting people with long-lost loved ones. Biography Dunn was the executive producer and s ...
into the underground flood channels of Las Vegas. There, they found a homeless mother, Cyndi, who'd been separated from her four daughters for several years. In the second episode of the show, Cyndi appeared with Dr. Phil and reunited with her daughters in the studio. At the end of the show, Dr. Phil offered Cyndi and her husband, Rick, rehab and family-counseling services, which they accepted. Dr. Phil discussed O'Brien's book ''Beneath the Neon''. In March 2015,
Seeker (media company) Seeker (stylized SeeSan Francisco
, California. The ...
profiled O'Brien on the air as he explored the tunnels and interacted with residents. In January 2016, O'Brien raised more than $13,000 in 24 hours through
Crowdrise CrowdRise is a for-profit crowdfunding platform that raises charitable donations. CrowdRise was founded by Edward Norton, Shauna Robertson, and the founders of Moosejaw, Robert and Jeffrey Wolfe. CrowdRise was acquired in 2017 by GoFundMe. Ove ...
for his nonprofit Shine a Light to benefit homeless people living in tunnels beneath the Las Vegas Strip. After three tunnel dwellers died in June 2016 in a flash flood, O'Brien and a homeless man known as "Jazz" appeared on NPR's southern Nevada affiliate
KNPR KNPR (88.9 FM, "News 88.9") is a non-commercial radio station located in Las Vegas, Nevada. KNPR airs news/ talk programming syndicated by National Public Radio (NPR). KNPR broadcasts in HD. History KNPR signed on for the first time on Mar ...
to talk about the flood, in which Jazz's longtime girlfriend Sharon drowned. O'Brien's nonprofit, Shine a Light, helped one of the flood victim's families with expenses surrounding the death. In July 2017, O'Brien relocated to San Salvador in
Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...
to teach literature at an English-language preparatory school and to write a sequel to ''Beneath the Neon'' about the homeless people who made it out of the storm drains. In an article about O'Brien, the '' Las Vegas Review-Journal'' described his move out of the country as the "man who shined light on Las Vegas' tunnel dwellers (is) moving on." Central Recovery Press released the sequel, titled ''Dark Days, Bright Nights: Surviving the Las Vegas Storm Drains'', in November 2020. '' Kirkus Reviews'' noted that the book "chronicles how one group of homeless people were able to leave tunnel life behind," while ''Coachella Valley Independent'' described it as "redemption stories" that "cast light on a rarely seen side of Las Vegas and offer a portrait of homelessness and recovery in America." On November 17, on ''Dark Days, Bright Nights release date, the ''
Reno Gazette Journal The ''Reno Gazette Journal'' is the main daily newspaper for Reno, Nevada. It is owned and operated by the Gannett Company. It came into being when the ''Nevada State Journal'' (founded on November 23, 1870) and the ''Reno Evening Gazette'' (fou ...
'' published a related feature story profiling "Half Pint," one of the book’s interviewees, and detailed O’Brien’s background with the tunnels. ''
USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...
'' picked up the story and ran the article.


Awards

O'Brien received two Artists Fellowship grants awarded by the Nevada Arts Council in 2007 and 2010 for his nonfiction book projects. He has won several first-place awards in the Nevada Press Association's Better Newspaper Contest, including Journalist of Merit (given to journalists with less than five years of experience to encourage them to stay in the business) in 2002 and Outstanding Journalist (a top individual award) in 2006. In November 2011, O'Brien was given the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame Silver Pen Award, sponsored by the Friends of the University of Nevada, Reno Libraries. Established in 1996, the Silver Pen recognizes writers who are in mid-career but have already shown substantial achievement. After the announcement of the award, ''The Nevada Review'' featured O'Brien in a Q&A article.


Books

* ''Beneath the Neon'' (Huntington Press, 2007) * ''My Week at the Blue Angel'' (Huntington Press, 2010) * ''Dark Days, Bright Nights'' (Central Recovery Press, 2020)


Reviews

About O'Brien's book ''My Week at the Blue Angel'', reviewer
Tod Goldberg Tod Goldberg (born January 10, 1971 in Berkeley, California) is an American author and journalist best known for his novels ''Gangsters Don't Die'' (Counterpoint),''Gangster Nation'' (Counterpoint), ''Gangsterland'' (Counterpoint) and ''Living De ...
wrote in ''
Las Vegas CityLife ''Las Vegas CityLife'', founded in August 1996, was the oldest alternative weekly newspaper in Southern Nevada and covered news about the Las Vegas Valley and surrounding areas. Coverage included news, politics, arts, and culture reporting in prin ...
'', "''My Week at the Blue Angel'' finds O'Brien once again searching underneath things for proof that not all is as it first appears. ... But it's when O'Brien talks to people who've seen the edge and blown right past it that his attention to detail as a writer serves him best."


References


External links


Official Web site for Matthew O'BrienO'Brien Editing ServicesShine a Light nonprofit official siteFeatured panelist, Vegas Valley Book Festival8NewsNow, "I-Team: 'Beneath the Neon' -- Underground Las Vegas"''Rebel Yell'', "Third annual Shanty Town headlines Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week", Nov. 22, 2010"Local author Matthew O'Brien on Hunter S. Thompson, Larry's Villa and more", November 19, 2010
'' Las Vegas Weekly''
CasinoOnline.co.uk, Book review, Matthew O'Brien - ''Beneath the Neon''
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Matthew Living people 1970 births Writers from Nevada Writers from Atlanta People from the Las Vegas Valley American newspaper journalists American male journalists University of West Georgia alumni Journalists from Washington, D.C. American non-fiction writers People from San Salvador