Writers’ Wednesday – On The GO! – The Game Changer: How Harry Reid Remade the Rules and Showed Democrats How to Fight (Off-site, KOP)
August 12 @ 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm
Writers’ Wednesday – On The GO!
Wednesday, August 12, 2026
5:00 – 5:30 pm – Building open
5:30 – 6:30 pm – Lecture
Speaker: Jon Ralston, author, reporter
Book Title: The Game Changer: How Harry Reid Remade the Rules and Showed Democrats How to Fight
Summary of Talk: The book is a biography on the life and career of Harry Reid, the five-time Senator from Nevada. The book explores Reid’s ruthlessness and tenacity, which produced groundbreaking legislation and tactics that kept the Democratic Party in control. It covers Reid’s rise from a childhood in a ramshackle home to becoming a powerful political figure, including his role in ensuring Obamacare became law, the Dodd-Frank Act, and other significant legislation. The biography also highlights Reid’s influence in Nevada, where he built a political machine that turned a red state blue and left a legacy on infrastructure and the environment.
Speaker Bio:
Jon Ralston has been covering politics in Nevada for more than 30 years. His blog, Ralston Reports, was founded in 2012 and now lives on The Nevada Independent website. Jon wrote for the Las Vegas Review-Journal for 15 years, the last seven as a freelance columnist. In 1999, Greenspun Media Group purchased his political newsletter, The Ralston Report, and hired him as a columnist for the Las Vegas Sun where his byline appeared until September 2012. He was also a columnist for the Reno Gazette-Journal from January 2015 until November 2016, when he left to start The Indy.
Jon is originally from Buffalo, New York. He has a B.A. in English from Cornell University and a M.A. in journalism from University of Michigan. He came to Las Vegas in 1984 as the night police reporter for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, later covering general assignment and county government before becoming a political reporter in 1986. He has a son, Jake. Jon loves movies and movie trivia and aspires to one day be The Nevada Independent’s film critic, if they’ll let him.
The Writers’ Wednesday Lecture Series, held on the second Wednesday of each month, features a different author who takes part in a book signing, a presentation, and a question-and-answer session with the audience.
The program intends to highlight writers who focus on Nevada, the Great Basin, or the West in general. The authors discuss the content of their books but also share details about the creative process.
We would like to thank our partner, the Knights of Pythias, for hosting our off-site lectures.
The Knights of Pythias fraternal organization promotes friendship among men and for the general welfare of its membership. They strive to make the world a better place by practicing the principles of friendship, charity, and benevolence through community service. The Knights of Pythias have been serving Nevada communities since the 1870s. There are only three active lodges left in the State of Nevada. The address is 980 Nevada Street, Reno, NV 89503.
