The working title of Rabbi Mel Hecht’s thoughtful and entertaining memoir in the making is Rogue Rabbi, which holds the promise of danger and intrigue. There’s some of that, to be sure. But there are also a lot of laughs, insights, and reminders of his decades spent in a certain colorful boomtown among casino kings and queens.

That’s where the subtitle, A Vegas Memoir, comes in. It is all of that and more.

Through the years, “Rabbi Mel” has been acquainted with the celebrated, the notorious, and a mixture of the two. Hecht has also officiated funeral services of folks who, well, weren’t known for spending a whole lot of time at temple.

One was his acquaintance Bernie Schwartz, better known as screen legend Tony Curtis. When Curtis died in 2010 in Las Vegas, Hecht was asked to officiate at the actor’s celebration of life before an overflow audience of family, friends, and admirers. At one point, he invited California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to share his remembrance of Curtis, whom Schwarzenegger had known for many years.

In his heavy Austrian accent Schwarzenegger described a visit to Curtis’ California home, where he was greeted warmly at the door and directed straight to the pool area.

“I vent to za door and was told Tony was by za pool,” Schwarzenegger said. “So I go to za pool and Tony ist in a lounge. He ist naked. Tony sees me. He has a big smile, gets up, says, ‘Arnie,’ and extends a hand to shake mine. I do so … from a distance.’ He says, ‘Here I have a camera. Take a picture.’ He looks ovah to vhere two hound dogs are lying in the shade. He vhistles the dogs to come ovah. He says to me, ‘Now…’ Do you know it took two hound dogs to cover his private parts?”

Did I mention that some of the rabbi’s material carries a PG rating?

From his encounters with singer and socialite Phyllis McGuire to controversial casino man Ralph Engelstad, Hecht found himself in eclectic company. And it’s not every man who can say he married Martha Raye. He officiated the service for the late comic actress and singer, who for the record was married seven times.

As a rabbi in Las Vegas, Hecht and wife Micki briefly entered and passed through the lives of many celebrities. “I buried the parents of Jerry Lewis, officiated the marriage of one of his kids, and was present when he suffered a heart attack,” he writes. “However, his very dear friends and managers, who were Catholic, thought if I came in I’d be giving him the Jewish ‘Last Rites,’ so they wouldn’t let me in. Jerry sent back word, ‘It’s OK, Rabbi, I got this one.’”

When you can rally with the Culinary Union, befriend illusionist Siegfried Fischbacher, play a role on the founding board of Nathan Adelson Hospice and provide myriad other services to the community, you’ve lived more than an interesting life.

I met Hecht many years ago, but encountered him often at the funeral services of some of the illegal bookmakers and other members of what they used to call the sporting crowd that I’ve written about. He was always the people’s rabbi. He always found a kind word to say and never failed to remind those present to give a sucker an even break once in a while.

With that, I’ll give the good rabbi the last word.

“Before, I had to travel in order to see the world,” he writes. “In Vegas, the world came to see me. Vegas offered me opportunities, experiences, adventures I couldn’t imagine possible for someone of my temperament and romantic spirit anywhere else. In Vegas, I was able to travel as part of groups and delegations marking significant moments in history, or participating in actual transitions in history. For a Jew, I can’t tell you how much that means! Vegas offered the ultimate in challenges to the Human Spirit and Human Condition.

“… It is not a place for the weak of character, or for those who are susceptible to the base inclinations that can enslave the human spirit,” he writes after spending much of his adult life trying to bring spiritual to so many. “It is a place where the finest human qualities can manifest themselves even when that appears impossible.”