Esther Lynn

Esther Lynn, a Las Vegas resident since 1976, passed away on August 22, 2020.  She was 80 years old. 

Born in Chicago, Illinois on January 26, 1940, Esther Lynn Goldson was a polio survivor who grew up in Tucson, Arizona, where she graduated from Amphitheater High School.

In June of 1958 she married her childhood sweetheart, Louis “Butch” Cohen.  They had three children.  The family moved to Southern California in 1966.  Following her divorce, Esther relocated to Las Vegas, where a few years later, she legally shortened/changed her name to Esther Lynn.

Esther was a former art dealer/broker, with galleries in Tarzana, California and Las Vegas, Nevada.  For more than 40 years she was a writer, proofreader and editor, working for Valley Wide magazine in California.  In Las Vegas she worked with the Las Vegas Sun, Las Vegas Review Journal, What’s On Magazine, Dirt Alert and Charleston Communications (With a weekly online entertainment column, written under the name Claire Voyant).  She also worked with Cabaret Scenes Magazine out of New York.  In addition, Esther was the co-creator of The Backstage Sleazoid, an underground publication distributed primarily through production show cast members. 

In 1996, Esther was one of the founders of the Southern California’s Valley Guild Cystic Fibrosis chapter.  From small meetings in a Quonset hut behind Valley Presbyterian Hospital, this grassroots group, of mostly CF parents, grew into the Los Angeles chapter, which then merged with Orange County, and is now one of the most successful fundraising arms for Cystic Fibrosis.

Esther was the organizer of the first major AIDS fundraiser in Las Vegas, Superstar Aids for Aids, an almost four-hour star-studded event held in the Stardust Hotel showroom in June of 1987.  She was one of the founders of SNAPS (Southern Nevada Association of Polio Survivors), a support group for those experiencing post-polio syndrome.

Esther was preceded in death by her parents, Ruth Ann Leon Goldson and Abraham “Al” Goldson.

Also known affectionately as “Sabby” and “O.W.,” Esther is survived by her children, Daughter - Elizabeth Anne (Dan) Pero, of Henderson, NV; Sons - Daniel Marcus Cohen and Michael Aaron Cohen, both of Southern California;  Three Grandsons – Joseph Michael Pero of Las Vegas, Adam Mitchell Pero (Laura) California, and Tyler Jonathan Cohen of California; her Brother – Harvey Mitchell Goldson (Ann Johnson) of Lakewood, Colorado; her Sister – April Goldson of Las Vegas; and Brother – Harry Goldson (Piper) of Suttons Bay, Michigan; along with many friends and a few enemies…          

As per her wishes, Esther Lynn was cremated and some of her cremated remains were sprinkled in a popular tourist location on the famed Las Vegas Strip.