Luther Bacon Scherer

Luther Bacon Scherer (March 27, 1879 – August 19, 1957) was an American businessman, real estate investor and poet.

Scherer was an investor in gambling saloons in Los Angeles, California, in the 1930s. He was a co-founder of the Pioneer Club Las Vegas in 1942, and subsequently invested in many casinos in Las Vegas, Nevada. He was the owner of large real estate holdings in Nevada and California.

Scherer published poems in the Nevada press, and republished selected poems in a poetry collection. He was appointed as the Poet Laureate of Nevada in 1950.

Biography Luther B. Scherer was born in 1879 in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Scherer invested in gambling in Los Angeles, California, in the 1930s. It was Lieutenant Governor Clifford A. Jones who helped them get a gambling license; in exchange for it, he received 5% of the casino. In 1955, one of his partners in the Las Vegas Club, Arthur Shellang, was found dead in a suspicious suicide at his residence in Paradise Valley, Nevada.

Poetry Scherer was appointed as the Poet Laureate of Nevada by Governor Charles H. Russell in 1950. He married Laveeda Marie Varley on July 30, 1951. They resided on the corner of 10th Street and Charleston Boulevard in Las Vegas. Six more murders followed hers, the last of which took place in 1958. Graham's story was later immortalized in the 1958 film I Want to Live!, in which she was portrayed by Susan Hayward. Hayward won an Oscar for her portrayal of Graham.

Death and legacy Scherer suffered a stroke in July 1957. His widow, Judy, inherited half his estate. One fourth of his estate was inherited by his daughter, Lolly Scherer, while another one fourth went to his son, Lord Bacon Scherer, also known as Tutor Taylor. Another daughter, Janna Lynn Scherer, inherited US$25,000.

In 2012, Scherer Street was named in his honor in Las Vegas.

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