Changes

| occupation  = Writer, astronomer, professor, musician, stand-up comedian

| occupation  = Writer, astronomer, professor, musician, stand-up comedian

| known      = Developer of Golden diagram for blackjack and the Magic Circle Strategy for roulette

| known      = Developer of Golden diagram for blackjack and the Magic Circle Strategy for roulette

| contact    = [[lesgoldencardcounting@yahoo.com]]

| contact    = lesgoldencardcounting@yahoo.com

| reference  = http://www.geocities.ws/les_golden

| reference  = http://www.geocities.ws/les_golden

}}

}}

Leslie Morris Golden (''Eliezer Moshe ben Reuven Motl y Chanah Kaileh'', ''Lazar Masche'') was born in Chicago, an identical twin,<ref>His parents are Irving R. (b. 1907) and Anne K. Golden (b. 1909; maiden name, Eisenberg).  Anne had twin brothers, Irving and Sam (b. 1905), and twin uncles on her mother’s side, Michel and Kivah Gerstein (b.1876), making the Golden twins the third successive generation of male twins on the maternal side.  The birth of the Golden twins was one of a record number of twin births at Wesley Memorial Hospital, a part of Northwestern Hospital in Chicago, in early December.</ref><ref>(1943), “Twins Tend Record Twin Crop,” ''Chicago Herald-American'', December 4, p. II-3</ref><ref>Petlicki, Myrna (1997), “Golden memories,” ''Oak Leaves'' (Oak Park, Illinois), July 2, p. B3-6</ref> the son of Anne K. (née Eisenberg; March 7, 1909 – November 19, 1999), a legal stenographer and homemaker, and Irving R. Golden (March 15, 1907 – June 22, 2005), an attorney and co-owner with his father Max Goldstein, an immigrant finish carpenter from Belarus, Russia, of a store fixture and bar manufacturing firm,<ref>Kogan,  Rick (2005), “Lawyer also designed, built bars,” ''Chicago Tribune'', July 24, p. IV-7</ref> and raised in Oak Park, Illinois, where he attended Horace Mann grammar school and Oak Park-River Forest High School.   

Leslie Morris Golden (''Eliezer Moshe ben Reuven Motl y Chanah Kaileh'', ''Lazar Masche'') was born in Chicago, an identical twin,<ref>His parents are Irving R. (b. 1907) and Anne K. Golden (b. 1909; maiden name, Eisenberg).  Anne had twin brothers, Irving and Sam (b. 1905), and twin uncles on her mother’s side, Michel and Kivah Gerstein (b.1876), making the Golden twins the third successive generation of male twins on the maternal side.  The birth of the Golden twins was one of a record number of twin births at Wesley Memorial Hospital, a part of Northwestern Hospital in Chicago, in early December.</ref><ref>(1943), “Twins Tend Record Twin Crop,” ''Chicago Herald-American'', December 4, p. II-3</ref><ref>Petlicki, Myrna (1997), “Golden memories,” ''Oak Leaves'' (Oak Park, Illinois), July 2, p. B3-6</ref> the son of Anne K. (née Eisenberg; March 7, 1909 – November 19, 1999), a legal stenographer and homemaker, and Irving R. Golden (March 15, 1907 – June 22, 2005), an attorney and co-owner with his father Max Goldstein, an immigrant finish carpenter from Belarus, Russia, of a store fixture and bar manufacturing firm,<ref>Kogan,  Rick (2005), “Lawyer also designed, built bars,” ''Chicago Tribune'', July 24, p. IV-7</ref> and raised in Oak Park, Illinois, where he attended Horace Mann grammar school and Oak Park-River Forest High School.   

He holds the B.A. (with Distinction) and Masters of Engineering Physics from Cornell University, where he was both a Cornell McMullen Scholar and a Fellow of the Interfoundation Committee of the American Institute for Economic Research (Great Barrington, Mass.), and received the M.A. and Ph.D in astronomy from the University of California, Berkeley,<ref> http://badgrads.berkeley.edu/doku.php?id=alumni:old</ref><ref>http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/2006ASPC..356...87F, page 90</ref> under Professor William J. “Jack” Welch,<ref>http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Faculty/Homepages/welch.html</ref> the Watson and Marilyn Alberts Chair emeritus in Extraterrestrial Intelligence.  At Cornell, he was the award-winning feature editor and then editor-in-chief of the <i>Cornell Engineer</i> magazine and a member of the Engineering Student Council.  Some of his early research in astronomy appeared in a book by Stephen Hawking.<ref> (1979) Hawking, S. W. & Israel, W. General relativity: an Einstein centenary survey. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-22285-0. “A much cited centennial survey”;   

[[File: LesGoldenSemesteratSea.jpg|thumb|left|175px|<small> Professor Golden was the first University of Illinois professor chosen to be a professor on Semester at Sea.  He  taught courses on astronomer and the possibility of extraterrestrial life.</small>]]He holds the B.A. (with Distinction) and Masters of Engineering Physics from Cornell University, where he was both a Cornell McMullen Scholar and a Fellow of the Interfoundation Committee of the American Institute for Economic Research (Great Barrington, Mass.), and received the M.A. and Ph.D in astronomy from the University of California, Berkeley,<ref> http://badgrads.berkeley.edu/doku.php?id=alumni:old</ref><ref>http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/2006ASPC..356...87F, page 90</ref> under Professor William J. “Jack” Welch,<ref>http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/Faculty/Homepages/welch.html</ref> the Watson and Marilyn Alberts Chair emeritus in Extraterrestrial Intelligence.  At Cornell, he was the award-winning feature editor and then editor-in-chief of the <i>Cornell Engineer</i> magazine and a member of the Engineering Student Council.  Some of his early research in astronomy appeared in a book by Stephen Hawking.<ref> (1979) Hawking, S. W. & Israel, W. General relativity: an Einstein centenary survey. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-22285-0. “A much cited centennial survey”;   

books.google.com/books?isbn=0521222850 </ref>  He performed research at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, as a National Research Council Resident Research Associate<ref>http://nrc58.nas.edu/aodir/gen_page.asp?mode=detail&sql=idnumber='760817'</ref> and the Aerospace Corporation in El Segundo, California.  He is the director of the [[Directory:Near Earth Asteroid Reconnaissance Project|Near Earth Asteroid Reconnaissance Project]] (N.E.A.R.),<ref>http://www.astronomy.com/sitecore/content/Magazine%20Issues/1994/April%201994.aspx , page 22</ref> which he founded as a University of Illinois at Chicago professor in 1994.  He has been elected to both Phi Beta Kappa (arts and sciences) and Tau Beta Pi (engineering) as well as Pi Delta Epsilon (journalism).

books.google.com/books?isbn=0521222850 </ref>  He performed research at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, as a National Research Council Resident Research Associate<ref>http://nrc58.nas.edu/aodir/gen_page.asp?mode=detail&sql=idnumber='760817'</ref> and the Aerospace Corporation in El Segundo, California.  He is the director of the [[Directory:Near Earth Asteroid Reconnaissance Project|Near Earth Asteroid Reconnaissance Project]] (N.E.A.R.),<ref>http://www.astronomy.com/sitecore/content/Magazine%20Issues/1994/April%201994.aspx , page 22</ref> which he founded as a University of Illinois at Chicago professor in 1994.  He has been elected to both Phi Beta Kappa (arts and sciences) and Tau Beta Pi (engineering) as well as Pi Delta Epsilon (journalism).

Compuserve magazine, August, p. 55 </ref><ref>(1982) “Improvising Your Way to Success,” ''Spring'',1, 6, p. 34 </ref><ref> (1984) “The boss is never wrong,” ''Screen magazine'', October 1, p. 19</ref><ref>www.imdb.com/title/tt0097170/</ref><ref>Petrulis, Len (1982), “Golden TV ‘Spoof’ on Reality,” ''Berwyn Life'', May 19, p. 14</ref> including multiple principle Shakespearean roles with [[Oak Park Festival Theatre]], an Equity-contract theatre.[[File:WhoisLesGolden.jpg|thumb|200px|<small>Les Golden Renaissance Man feature article</small>]]

Compuserve magazine, August, p. 55 </ref><ref>(1982) “Improvising Your Way to Success,” ''Spring'',1, 6, p. 34 </ref><ref> (1984) “The boss is never wrong,” ''Screen magazine'', October 1, p. 19</ref><ref>www.imdb.com/title/tt0097170/</ref><ref>Petrulis, Len (1982), “Golden TV ‘Spoof’ on Reality,” ''Berwyn Life'', May 19, p. 14</ref> including multiple principle Shakespearean roles with [[Oak Park Festival Theatre]], an Equity-contract theatre.[[File:WhoisLesGolden.jpg|thumb|200px|<small>Les Golden Renaissance Man feature article</small>]]

In 1966 Golden provided the stimulus for the formation of the [[University of California Jazz Ensembles]] by placing an ad calling for student jazz musicians in the [[Daily Californian]].  With the arrival of Dr. [[David W.  Tucker]] to the Cal campus, the organization became the most prominent musical organization on the Berkeley campus.  Golden was a trumpet player, soloist, and vocalist with the elite Wednesday Night big band.  For seven years he was the emcee for the program, appearing at dozens of performances annually at concerts and jazz festivals throughout California.<ref>http://ucjazz.berkeley.edu/</ref>[[File:DailyCalArticlebyLesGoldenUCJazz1968.jpg‎|thumb|left|175px|<small>Article by Les Golden in the [[Daily Californian]] announcing the first concert of the [[University of California Jazz Ensembles]]</small>]]

In 1966 Golden provided the stimulus for the formation of the [[University of California Jazz Ensembles]] by placing an ad calling for student jazz musicians in the [[Daily Californian]].  With the arrival of Dr. [[David W.  Tucker]] to the Cal campus, the organization became the most prominent musical organization on the Berkeley campus.  Golden was a trumpet player, soloist, and vocalist with the elite Wednesday Night big band.  For seven years he was the emcee for the program, appearing at dozens of performances annually at concerts and jazz festivals throughout California.<ref>http://ucjazz.berkeley.edu/ </ref>[[File:DailyCalArticlebyLesGoldenUCJazz1968.jpg‎|thumb|left|175px|<small>Article by Les Golden in the Daily Californian announcing the first concert of the University of California Jazz Ensembles</small>]]

Golden is an award-winning developer of sophisticated music notation software.<ref>Nolan, Herb (1989), “An Astronomer Tackles the Music Software Marketplace,” ''Upbeat'', November, p. 45-46</ref><ref>(1989), “100 Great Products for Under $100,” ''Electronic Musician'', December, '''5''', 12, p. 46</ref><ref>Mahin, Bruce P. (1989), “Choosing Music Notation Software,” ''The Instrumentalist'', '''43''', 11, p. 26-31</ref><ref>(1989), “Basic Composer,” ''Music Educators Journal'', April, p. 20</ref><ref>Kuzmich, John (1990), “Scoring With Computers,” ''Jazz Educators Journal'',  '''23''', 3, p. 52</ref><ref>King, Patricia (1990),” “Basic Composer,” ''The Music and Computer Educator'', '''1''', 10, p. 26</ref><ref>(1991), “Basic Composer 4.3,” ''Compute'', '''13''', 2, p.90</ref>

Golden is an award-winning developer of sophisticated music notation software.<ref>Nolan, Herb (1989), “An Astronomer Tackles the Music Software Marketplace,” ''Upbeat'', November, p. 45-46</ref><ref>(1989), “100 Great Products for Under $100,” ''Electronic Musician'', December, '''5''', 12, p. 46</ref><ref>Mahin, Bruce P. (1989), “Choosing Music Notation Software,” ''The Instrumentalist'', '''43''', 11, p. 26-31</ref><ref>(1989), “Basic Composer,” ''Music Educators Journal'', April, p. 20</ref><ref>Kuzmich, John (1990), “Scoring With Computers,” ''Jazz Educators Journal'',  '''23''', 3, p. 52</ref><ref>King, Patricia (1990),” “Basic Composer,” ''The Music and Computer Educator'', '''1''', 10, p. 26</ref><ref>(1991), “Basic Composer 4.3,” ''Compute'', '''13''', 2, p.90</ref>

He has appeared numerous times as an actor on the live-broadcast productions of "[[Unshackled]]!"  He was a featured regular on the Eddie Hubbard Show radio program as the character Jeffrey Clayton Maxwell from Bhutan.  He is a member of both the Screen Actors  Guild (SAG) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA).  He was a charter member of Chicago's Porchlight Theatre Ensemble.  He has appeared in featured roles with Broderick Crawford, Tippi Hedren, Troy Donahue, Charlotte Ross, Susan Hart, Robert Petkoff, David Darlow, Bruce Jarchow, Paula Scrofano, and others. [[File:LesGoldenKreyHotDogsActor.jpg|thumb|175px|<small>Les Golden possesses a "great character face."  Shown here as model for Krey Hot Dogs.</small>]]

 

He has appeared numerous times as an actor on the live-broadcast productions of "[[Unshackled]]!"  He was a featured regular on the Eddie Hubbard Show radio program as the character Jeffrey Clayton Maxwell from Bhutan.  He is a member of both the Screen Actors  Guild (SAG) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA).  He was a charter member of Chicago's Porchlight Theatre Ensemble.  He has appeared in featured roles with Broderick Crawford, Tippi Hedren, Troy Donahue, Charlotte Ross, Susan Hart, Robert Petkoff, David Darlow, Bruce Jarchow, Paula Scrofano, and others.[[File:LesGoldenKreyHotDogsActor.jpg|thumb|175px|<small>Les Golden possesses a "great character face."  Shown here as model for Krey Hot Dogs.</small>]]

As "Flash Golden," he was the play-by-play announcer for the California Golden Bears basketball radio broadcasts and hosted Flash's Jazz Patio on [[KALX]]-FM.  As a stand-up comedian, he has performed at San Francisco's Holy City Zoo, the Comedy Store in Los Angeles, the Comedy Cottage in Chicago, as well as on the college circuit, Playboy Club, and other clubs.    He appears both as himself, [[Les Golden]], and as [[Subrahmanyan Berkowitz]] from Bhutan.  He is a published editorial cartoonist.[[File:FlashGoldenatOaklandColiseum.jpg|thumb|250px|<small>Flash Golden at halftime at Oakland Coliseum for Cal-UCLA showdown.  He wears his signature gold jacket and blue and gold tie.  To his right is color man George Skofis.  To his left, standing, is Larry Heavey, baritone sax player with the UC Jazz Ensembles.</small>]]

As "Flash Golden," he was the play-by-play announcer for the California Golden Bears basketball radio broadcasts and hosted Flash's Jazz Patio on [[KALX]]-FM.  As a stand-up comedian, he has performed at San Francisco's Holy City Zoo, the Comedy Store in Los Angeles, the Comedy Cottage in Chicago, as well as on the college circuit, Playboy Club, and other clubs.    He appears both as himself, [[Les Golden]], and as [[Subrahmanyan Berkowitz]] from Bhutan.  He is a published editorial cartoonist.[[File:FlashGoldenatOaklandColiseum.jpg|thumb|250px|<small>Flash Golden at halftime at Oakland Coliseum for Cal-UCLA showdown.  He wears his signature gold jacket and blue and gold tie.  To his right is color man George Skofis.  To his left, standing, is Larry Heavey, baritone sax player with the UC Jazz Ensembles.</small>]]

[[File:TsunamiLecture.jpg‎|thumb|left|250px|<small> Professor Leslie M. Golden lectures in 2005 on how the East Indian Ocean [[tsunami]]-generating earthquake led to a shortening of the length of the day.</small>]]He lectures to adult and student audiences on the possibility of extraterrestrial life and the hypothetical shapes of their bodies.  A frequent cruise ship lecturer, he was selected by Royal Cruise Lines to be their shipboard lecturer on the high seas during the 1986 apparition of Halley's Comet, and was the first University of Illinois professor selected to be a professor on the Institute of Shipboard Education's (ISE) Semester at Sea program,<ref>(1997), “Physics sails the world,” ''UIC News'' (University of Illinois at Chicago), April 30, p. 2; http://www.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/uicnews/articledetail.cgi?id=4005</ref> teaching courses on astronomy and the possibility of extraterrestrial life in the fall semester of 1996.  Among his popular writings on astronomy<ref>http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2004-01-20/news/0401200115_1_communication-satellites-mars-initiative-astronomy</ref><ref>http://www.ummah.com/forum/showthread.php?30437-Benefits-Of-A-Mission-To-Mars</ref> and public presentations,<ref>(2005)  Anderson, Holly, “Day shortened by quake, astronomer calculates,” http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1N1-110D9F0B0030ACF0.html, January 5</ref><ref>http://blog.chicagoweathercenter.com/2004/12/</ref>  he has been the featured speaker at the meeting of the Great Lakes Planetarium Association and was the keynote speaker for Chicago's Adler Planetarium on the occasion of the dedication of their new wing.

[[File:TsunamiLecture.jpg‎|thumb|left|250px|<small> Professor Leslie M. Golden lectures in 2005 on how the East Indian Ocean [[tsunami]]-generating earthquake led to a shortening of the length of the day.</small>]]He lectures to adult and student audiences on the possibility of extraterrestrial life and the hypothetical shapes of their bodies.  A frequent cruise ship lecturer, he was selected by Royal Cruise Lines to be their shipboard lecturer on the high seas during the 1986 apparition of Halley's Comet, and was the first University of Illinois professor selected to be a professor on the Institute of Shipboard Education's (ISE) Semester at Sea program,<ref>(1997), “Physics sails the world,” ''UIC News'' (University of Illinois at Chicago), April 30, p. 2; http://www.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/uicnews/articledetail.cgi?id=4005</ref> teaching courses on astronomy and the possibility of extraterrestrial life in the fall semester of 1996.  Among his popular writings on astronomy<ref>http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2004-01-20/news/0401200115_1_communication-satellites-mars-initiative-astronomy</ref><ref>http://www.ummah.com/forum/showthread.php?30437-Benefits-Of-A-Mission-To-Mars</ref> and public presentations,<ref>(2005)  Anderson, Holly, “Day shortened by quake, astronomer calculates,” http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1N1-110D9F0B0030ACF0.html, January 5</ref><ref>http://blog.chicagoweathercenter.com/2004/12/</ref>  he has been the featured speaker at the meeting of the Great Lakes Planetarium Association and was the keynote speaker for Chicago's Adler Planetarium on the occasion of the dedication of their new wing.

===Renaissance Man Description===

==Renaissance Man Description==

Les Golden is a Renaissance Man, a true polymath.  [[File: LesGoldenAlkaSeltzer.jpg |thumb|250px|<small> Principal actor for Alka Seltzer national campaign. This photo appeared in every National Basketball Association program for every team during its season.</small>]]

Les Golden is a Renaissance Man, a true polymath.  [[File: LesGoldenAlkaSeltzer.jpg |thumb|250px|<small> Principal actor for Alka Seltzer national campaign. This photo appeared in every National Basketball Association program for every team during its season.</small>]]He has been so described in numerous newspapers and magazine.  "Let's say there was a local character who has a B.S. and M.S. in engineering physics from Cornell University; earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in astronomy from the University of California in Berkeley; is a professional actor; a former stand-up comedian in San Francisco and L.A. and an improv performer with Chicago's Second City, is a freelance jazz and theater critic and playwright; is president of his own software development company; gives lectures on UFOs and the possibility of extraterrestrial life; was listed in the Marquis "Who's Who in Science and Engineering;" and every July 4 either he or his twin brother lead the band that precedes the fireworks at the local high school.  You'd accuse us of making him up, right?  Wait, it gets better.  Let's say all of that is not enough.  Let's say this guy wants to make his mark in politics . . . only he insists on filing under a nickname which usually gets him tossed off the ballot . . . " <ref>(1997) Trainor, Ken, "Who is Les Golden?", ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and  River Forest'', April 2, p. 29-37</ref>[[File: LesGoldenJazzOaklandMuseum.jpg |thumb|left|250px|<small>Members of the University of California Jazz Ensembles in a publicity photo prior to a performance at the Oakland Museum.  From top, Gary Maas, drummer, now an optometrist, Les Golden, trumpet, vocalist, and announcer, and Larry Heavey, baritone sax, now a radiologist.</small>]]

  He has been so described in numerous newspapers and magazine.  "Let's say there was a local character who has a B.S. and M.S. in engineering physics from Cornell University; earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in astronomy from the University of California in Berkeley; is a professional actor; a former stand-up comedian in San Francisco and L.A. and an improv performer with Chicago's Second City, is a freelance jazz and theater critic and playwright; is president of his own software development company; gives lectures on UFOs and the possibility of extraterrestrial life; was listed in the Marquis "Who's Who in Science and Engineering;" and every July 4 either he or his twin brother lead the band that precedes the fireworks at the local high school.  You'd accuse us of making him up, right?  Wait, it gets better.  Let's say all of that is not enough.  Let's say this guy wants to make his mark in politics . . . only he insists on filing under a nickname which usually gets him tossed off the ballot . . . " <ref>(1997) Trainor, Ken, "Who is Les Golden?", ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and  River Forest'', April 2, p. 29-37</ref>[[File: LesGoldenJazzOaklandMuseum.jpg |thumb|left|250px|<small>Members of the University of California Jazz Ensembles in a publicity photo prior to a performance at the Oakland Museum.  From top, Gary Maas, drummer, now an optometrist, Les Golden, trumpet, vocalist, and announcer, and Larry Heavey, baritone sax, now a radiologist.</small>]]

 

"Where to start in introducing the complete one-off individual that is Les Golden?  Actor, stand-up comedian, humorist UFO lecturer, singer, astronomer, cartoonist, playwright, trumpet player, voiceover artist, political activist . . . we could go on.  You can probably tell that Les is a bit of a character.  Luckily for readers, he's also a great blackjack player,"<ref>(2009) Lines, Chris, "A Word From the Editor," ''Gambling Online'', August, p. 8.</ref>  

"Where to start in introducing the complete one-off individual that is Les Golden?  Actor, stand-up comedian, humorist UFO lecturer, singer, astronomer, cartoonist, playwright, trumpet player, voiceover artist, political activist . . . we could go on.  You can probably tell that Les is a bit of a character.  Luckily for readers, he's also a great blackjack player,"<ref>(2009) Lines, Chris, "A Word From the Editor," ''Gambling Online'', August, p. 8.</ref>  

"It would be an unusual man who really went by the name 'Cut the Taxes,' but Golden, of Oak Park, is an unusual man. He is an actor and educational software developer with a Ph.D. in astronomy; he is a trumpet player, writer and physics professor who devotes much of his free time to taxpayers rights issues."<ref>(1995) Zorn,  Eric, This Candidate Is A `Cut The Taxes' Above The Rest," ''Chicago Tribune'', October 3; http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1995-10-03/news/9510030038_1_wallace-gator-bradley-candidates-taxes.  See also, (1994), "A film career far (but not removed) from Tinseltown," ''Compuserve magazine'', August, p. 55; Krapf, Paula (1995) "Silence not Golden: aspiring local politico a man of many names, Faces," ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and  River Forest'', September 20, p. 4</ref>

"It would be an unusual man who really went by the name 'Cut the Taxes,' but Golden, of Oak Park, is an unusual man. He is an actor and educational software developer with a Ph.D. in astronomy; he is a trumpet player, writer and physics professor who devotes much of his free time to taxpayers rights issues."<ref>(1995) Zorn,  Eric, This Candidate Is A `Cut The Taxes' Above The Rest," ''Chicago Tribune'', October 3; http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1995-10-03/news/9510030038_1_wallace-gator-bradley-candidates-taxes.  See also, (1994), "A film career far (but not removed) from Tinseltown," ''Compuserve magazine'', August, p. 55; Krapf, Paula (1995) "Silence not Golden: aspiring local politico a man of many names, Faces," ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and  River Forest'', September 20, p. 4</ref>

Unlike many in society who were influenced and aided by family members in achieving success in given fields, Golden is entirely a self-made man.  No one in either his maternal or paternal extended families have matriculated at an Ivy League college, earned a Ph.D, nor have had professional careers as an actor, stand-up comedian, playwright, political cartoonist, magazine editor, non-fiction writer, software developer, scientist, or professor.  His identical twin brother and he are the only professional musicians in the extended families.<ref>Petlicki, Myrna (1997), “Golden memories,” ''Oak Leaves'' (Oak Park, Illinois), July 2, p. B3-6</ref><ref>http://villageofoakpark.com/Stories2002/2003-Les-Golden-comments-July4th-music.html</ref>

[[File:LesGoldenNameGame.jpg|thumb|right|175px|<small> Les Golden is a true polymath, a Renaissance Man.  His numerous activities have provided him with many names.  Play the Les Golden Name Game! </small>]]Unlike many in society who were influenced and aided by family members in achieving success in given fields, Golden is entirely a self-made man.  No one in either his maternal or paternal extended families have matriculated at an Ivy League college, earned a Ph.D, nor have had professional careers as an actor, stand-up comedian, playwright, political cartoonist, magazine editor, non-fiction writer, software developer, scientist, or professor.  His identical twin brother and he are the only professional musicians in the extended families.<ref>Petlicki, Myrna (1997), “Golden memories,” ''Oak Leaves'' (Oak Park, Illinois), July 2, p. B3-6</ref><ref>http://villageofoakpark.com/Stories2002/2003-Les-Golden-comments-July4th-music.html</ref>

==Gambling Writings==

==Gambling Writings==

===Introduction to Card Counting===

===Introduction to Card Counting===

In the months before the premier Wednesday Night Band of the [[University of California Jazz Ensembles]], under the direction of Dr. [[David W. Tucker]], went in 1972 to Reno, Nevada, to compete in its first Reno Jazz Festival,<ref>www.unr.edu/rjf/</ref> Golden, a trumpet player and vocalist with the band and its announcer, purchased Beat the Dealer at the  legendary Moe’s Bookstore in Berkeley, California, and studied Thorp’s complete point count system.  In the next five years at Berkeley, Golden made monthly trips to Reno, with additional trips to Lake Tahoe and Virginia City, Nevada.  In 1977 he moved to Los Angeles to perform research at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory as a National Research Council Resident Research Associate post-doctoral fellow in astronomy,<ref>http://nrc58.nas.edu/aodir/gen_page.asp?mode=detail&sql=idnumber='760817'</ref> and his gambling excursions were to Las Vegas, Nevada.  He continued to perform stand-up comedy at various venues including The Comedy Store and The Improv.

In the months before the premier Wednesday Night Band of the [[University of California Jazz Ensembles]], under the direction of Dr. [[David W. Tucker]], went in 1972 to Reno, Nevada, to compete in its first [[Reno]] Jazz Festival,<ref>www.unr.edu/rjf/</ref> Golden, a trumpet player and vocalist with the band and its announcer, purchased Beat the Dealer at the  legendary Moe’s Bookstore in Berkeley, California, and studied Thorp’s complete point count system.  In the next five years at Berkeley, Golden made monthly trips to Reno, with additional trips to Lake Tahoe and Virginia City, Nevada.  In 1977 he moved to Los Angeles to perform research at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory as a National Research Council Resident Research Associate post-doctoral fellow in astronomy,<ref>http://nrc58.nas.edu/aodir/gen_page.asp?mode=detail&sql=idnumber='760817'</ref> and his gambling excursions were to [[Las Vegas]], [[Nevada]].  He continued to perform stand-up comedy at various venues including The Comedy Store and The Improv.

[[File:CountonLesLogojpg.jpg‎|thumb|240px|<small>Logo for Les Golden's popular "Count on Les" columns for gambling.com print magazine</small>]]

[[File:CountonLesLogojpg.jpg‎|thumb|240px|<small>Logo for Les Golden's popular "Count on Les" columns for gambling.com print magazine</small>]]

After the publication of Beat the Dealer, gambling casinos reacted to the advantage that a card counter  gains over the house by adopting counter strategies.  These included employing multiple decks rather than the single hand-held deck.  Two-deck games and games employing four and six decks dealt from a so-called shoe became commonplace.

After the publication of Beat the Dealer, gambling casinos reacted to the advantage that a card counter  gains over the house by adopting counter strategies.  These included employing multiple decks rather than the single hand-held deck.  Two-deck games and games employing four and six decks dealt from a so-called shoe became commonplace.

Players soon realized intuitively that both these changes in the game reduced their probabilities of winning.  In games with a multiple deck, compared to single-deck or double-deck games, players experience frequency, magnitude, and depth (the fraction of the deck which has been dealt in playing previous hands) effects:  1) The deck becomes favorable less frequently at all depths, 2) when the deck does becomes favorable, the magnitude of the advantage is not as great, 3) all decks are favorable infrequently until a significant portion of the deck has been dealt and this occurs at greater depths into the deck in games  using multiple decks.

[[File: LesGoldenBiologyET.jpg|thumb|left|175px|<small> Dr. Les Golden, a popular UIC professor of physics and director of the Near Earth Asteroid Reconnaissance Project, delivers a colloquium on the subject of Extraterrestrial Life to the University of Illinois at Chicago Biology Colloquium. </small>]]Players soon realized intuitively that both these changes in the game reduced their probabilities of winning.  In games with a multiple deck, compared to single-deck or double-deck games, players experience frequency, magnitude, and depth (the fraction of the deck which has been dealt in playing previous hands) effects:  1) The deck becomes favorable less frequently at all depths, 2) when the deck does becomes favorable, the magnitude of the advantage is not as great, 3) all decks are favorable infrequently until a significant portion of the deck has been dealt and this occurs at greater depths into the deck in games  using multiple decks.

Golden, based on a Monte Carlo simulation and theoretical arguments, calculated the magnitude of these effects.  The results of his analysis are displayed as Golden diagrams.<ref>Golden, Les (2010).  “Countering the Casino Countering of Counters:  The Golden Diagram to the Rescue,” ''Bluff Europe'',  June, p. 84-85</ref><ref>Golden, Les (2011). “Trust Me:  An Undetectable Winning System For Blackjack! ,” ''Bluff Europe'', March, p. 94-95</ref>  He also suggested a stepwise betting strategy to reduce the effects.<ref>Golden, Leslie M. (2011). “An Analysis of the Disadvantage to Players of Multiple Decks in the Game of 21.”  ''The Mathematical Scientist'', '''32''', 2,  p. 57-69</ref><ref>Golden, Les (2011). “Stepping Out With My Baby:  The Stepwise Betting Strategy,” ''Bluff Europe'', April, p. 92-93</ref>

Golden, based on a Monte Carlo simulation and theoretical arguments, calculated the magnitude of these effects.  The results of his analysis are displayed as Golden diagrams.<ref>Golden, Les (2010).  “Countering the Casino Countering of Counters:  The Golden Diagram to the Rescue,” ''Bluff Europe'',  June, p. 84-85</ref><ref>Golden, Les (2011). “Trust Me:  An Undetectable Winning System For Blackjack! ,” ''Bluff Europe'', March, p. 94-95</ref>  He also suggested a stepwise betting strategy to reduce the effects.<ref>Golden, Leslie M. (2011). “An Analysis of the Disadvantage to Players of Multiple Decks in the Game of 21.”  ''The Mathematical Scientist'', '''32''', 2,  p. 57-69</ref><ref>Golden, Les (2011). “Stepping Out With My Baby:  The Stepwise Betting Strategy,” ''Bluff Europe'', April, p. 92-93</ref>

[[File:EricZornLes.jpg|thumb|125px|<small>Featured column on Les Golden in Chicago Tribune.</small>]]

[[File:EricZornLes.jpg|thumb|125px|<small>Featured column on Les Golden in Chicago Tribune.</small>]]

Golden began his political career with the non-partisan CARE Party (Citizens Active for a Responsible Electorate) in Oak Park, Illinois.  He later formed the TURF Party (Taxpayers United of River Forest) in the adjacent community.  He was the president of UTOP (United Taxpayers of Oak Park) from 1991 through 2005.<ref>http://www.oakparkjournal.com/Stories2002/2003-national-taxpayers-protest-op-sept-25.html</ref>  As CARE party president he has been responsible for slating more than 70 candidates for local political office, achieving the election of eight on tax-accountability and environmental issues.<ref>see, for example, (1989) CARE joins school board fray, <i>Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest</i> , July 31, page 1; (1989) CARE tries to seek new identity, <i>Oak Leaves</i>,  October 11, page 7; (1990) CARE endorsements have defeat the "incumbent" goal, <i>Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest</i> , October 31, page 21; (1991) CARE challenges shake up village races, <i>Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest</i>, February 6, page 1;  

Golden began his political career with the non-partisan CARE Party (Citizens Active for a Responsible Electorate) in Oak Park, Illinois.  He later formed the TURF Party (Taxpayers United of River Forest) in the adjacent community.  He was the president of UTOP (United Taxpayers of Oak Park) from 1991 through 2005.<ref>http://www.oakparkjournal.com/Stories2002/2003-national-taxpayers-protest-op-sept-25.html</ref>  As CARE party president he has been responsible for slating more than 70 candidates for local political office, achieving the election of eight on tax-accountability and environmental issues.<ref>see, for example, (1989) CARE joins school board fray, <i>Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest</i> , July 31, page 1; (1989) CARE tries to seek new identity, <i>Oak Leaves</i>,  October 11, page 7; (1990) CARE endorsements have defeat the "incumbent" goal, <i>Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest</i> , October 31, page 21; (1991) CARE challenges shake up village races, <i>Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest</i>, February 6, page 1;  

(1991) CARE: a party in search of an image, <i>Oak Leaves</i>,  August 14, page 8; Thomas, Sherry (1995) “Is Runningbear really ‘Cut the Taxes’?”, ''Oak Leaves'' (Oak Park, Illinois), August 23, p. 13; Linden, Eric (1995) “New OPRF ‘slate’ reads like a hoax,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and  River Forest'', August 9, p. 7</ref> He has sponsored and moderated numerous taxpayer information forums.<ref>see, for example,(2006) “Oak Park tax gripes to be discussed”, September 26, http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2006-09-26/news/0609260292_1_property-tax-property-owners-steep-hike;  (1987) 200 turn out at CARE tax forum, ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', October 7; CARE tax forum adds speakers, ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', September 9, 9; http://www.oakparkjournal.com/Stories2002/2003-national-taxpayers-protest-op-sept-25.html</ref>

(1991) CARE: a party in search of an image, <i>Oak Leaves</i>,  August 14, page 8; Thomas, Sherry (1995) “Is Runningbear really ‘Cut the Taxes’?”, ''Oak Leaves'' (Oak Park, Illinois), August 23, p. 13; Linden, Eric (1995) “New OPRF ‘slate’ reads like a hoax,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and  River Forest'', August 9, p. 7</ref> He has sponsored and moderated numerous taxpayer information forums.<ref>see, for example,(2006) “Oak Park tax gripes to be discussed”, September 26, http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2006-09-26/news/0609260292_1_property-tax-property-owners-steep-hike;  (1987) 200 turn out at CARE tax forum, ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', October 7; CARE tax forum adds speakers, ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', September 9, 9; http://www.oakparkjournal.com/Stories2002/2003-national-taxpayers-protest-op-sept-25.html</ref>  His advocacy of tax-relief has led him to seek local elected office as “Cut the Taxes.”<ref>(2003) Golden, Les “Cut the Taxes” Golden, How to turn the Barrie negative into a positive,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', February 26</ref>

His interest in tax relief has led to a leadership role in large-scale commercial development as principal of Holley Court Partners.<ref>http://www.oak-park.us/public/pdfs/Planning/Harlem_South/2006%20RFP%20Responses/09.26.06_Holley%20Court%20Partners.pdf</ref>

His interest in tax relief has led to a leadership role in large-scale commercial development as principal of Holley Court Partners.<ref>http://www.oak-park.us/public/pdfs/Planning/Harlem_South/2006%20RFP%20Responses/09.26.06_Holley%20Court%20Partners.pdf</ref>

His notoriety as a sponsor of political candidates led to his namesake, "Moe Silver," Chairman of the "LOVE Party," being a lead character in the locally-drawn "Shrubtown" comic strip and theatrical play by the same name by artist and writer Marc Stopeck.<ref>see, for example, Stopeck, Marc (1991), “Shrubtown,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', July 24, p. 17; Stopeck, Marc (1991), “Shrubtown,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 14, p. 22; Stopeck, Marc (1991), “Shrubtown,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 21, p. 23; Stopeck, Marc (1991), “Shrubtown,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 28, p. 21; Stopeck, Marc (1992), “Shrubtown,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 12, p. 24; Stopeck, Marc (1993), “Shrubtown,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 11, p. 22</ref>

[[File: LesGoldenParksCandidacy.jpg|thumb|left|175px|<small> As a candidate for the Oak Park Park District, Les “Cut the Taxes” Golden suggested an imaginative use for a local park among tax-saving measures.</small>]]His notoriety as a sponsor of political candidates led to his namesake, "Moe Silver," Chairman of the "LOVE Party," being a lead character in the locally-drawn "Shrubtown" comic strip and theatrical play by the same name by artist and writer Marc Stopeck.<ref>see, for example, Stopeck, Marc (1991), “Shrubtown,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', July 24, p. 17; Stopeck, Marc (1991), “Shrubtown,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 14, p. 22; Stopeck, Marc (1991), “Shrubtown,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 21, p. 23; Stopeck, Marc (1991), “Shrubtown,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 28, p. 21; Stopeck, Marc (1992), “Shrubtown,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 12, p. 24; Stopeck, Marc (1993), “Shrubtown,” ''Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and River Forest'', August 11, p. 22</ref>

===Statewide and National===

===Statewide and National===