Though newspapers detailed Laxalt's political decisions, she was better known in the Legislature as a mentor and "legend."

During a closing address for a conference celebrating the life and work of Basque-Nevadan author Robert Laxalt, his grandson Gabriel Urza brought out a leather satchel containing notes from his grandfather's reporting for National Geographic as well as an early manuscript of his book The Governor's Mansion.

Using the skills that he honed as a deadline journalist, he introduced Americans to a rich but neglected and often maligned Basque culture and its place in the nation's immigrant mosaic.