Desc: West Side Stories: Directed by Steven Feld. With Keith Riker. West Side Stories tells the story of the founding, growth and unlikely success of one of this country's most dynamic Jewish communities, as told by those who lived it. As early as the late 1800s, Jews from around the world found their way to the 'wild, wild west' of Denver, Colorado because of the gold rush, the tuberculosis epidemic and an ingenious scam. The community was unique in that it replicated exactly an eastern European shtetl in nearly every way. Later the community became famous as the childhood home of Golda Meir, Thomas Bopp who discovered the Hale-Bopp comet, and Theodore Maiman, the inventor of the laser. Several major US corporations including Mattel, Samsonite and Oxiclean also had their roots on Denver's Jewish west side.