My New Book: 111 Places in New Orleans That You Must Not Miss!
I forgot to mention that I have a new book: 111 Places in New Orleans That You Must Not Miss!
It is the third revision – but about 90% completely rewritten! I had such a fun time writing and researching it – and making new friends! As a rule, I always try to speak with anyone involved in the business, place, or art piece. I don’t want to just regurgitate articles or websites – I am always looking for a personal angle and hopefully a deeper insight.
For example, among others, I interviewed Aidan Gill, owner of Aidan Gill for Men; Lisa Klein Blout one of the owners of Antoine’s Restaurant; Deb and Marty Kermeen who made the Labyrinth in Audubon Park; Dominique Francis owners of the Backstreet Cultural Museum; company brand manager Brittnee Ulmer from the Bevolo Gas & Electric; Marita Crandle the owner of the Boutique de Vampyre’s Apothecary; employees at the Aquarium – for the bug café and for the scuba diving; Alton Osborn co-owner of the Bywater Bakery; Barbe Smith owner of the Cascade Stables; Bert McComas, manager of the Country Club, Neil Timms, owner of the Crown & Anchor English Pub (very smokey interview, I might add!), Crystal Lea Nause co-owner of Dark Matter Oddities, Chef Dwynesha “Dee” Lavigne, owner of Deelightful Roux School of Cooking, Ann Marie and Mark Derby owners of Derby Pottery; Tracie Haydel Griddin, granddaughter of Leah Chase and one of Dooky Chase’s operators; Marcy Hessling, owner of Fifi Mahony’s (best wig shop on the planet); Mike Tata owner of Friday Night Fights; Peggy Bishop, the artist behind the Garden Totem Poles, Robert Dula owner of NOLA Gondola; artist Victor Ving one of the artists for the Greetings From NOLA mural; artist Tim Tate who made the art piece Guardian’s Wall, an employee from the Insta-Gator Ranch (who also broke out some alligators for me); owner Johnny Lis of JAMNOLA; Greg Lambousy director of the New Orleans Jazz Museum; an employee of Kenner Planetarium and MegaDome Cinema; Jeff “Beachbum” Berry, owner of Latitude 29; Claudia Baumgarten, owner of Miss Claudia’s Vintage Clothing & Costumes; bartender at Ms. Mae’s; Christian Repaal the art fabricator of Music Box Village; Nori Pritchard co-owner of New Orleans Craft Culture; Cayman Clevenger owner of Orleans Gallery by Louisiana Art; raconteur Matthew King and owner of La Belle Esplanade; Christopher Nobles owner of Piety & Desire Chocolate; Alex Podesta artist of the Podesta Bunny Men; burlesque start Bella Blue co-owner of Pulcinella! And the Original Nite cap; artist Sally Heller of the Scrap House; Claus Sadlier owner and operated of the Storyville Museum (one of my favorite history topics); Operational Manager Liz LeFrere of Studio Be; employee of The Train Garden; burlesque star Trixie Minx and Emily Conelly of Trixie’s Burlesque Boutique; curator of Tulane’s Louisiana Research Collection Leon Miller; Voodoo Priestess Miriam Chamani owner of the Voodoo Spiritual Temple; the glamourous Yvonne LaFleur owner of Yvonne LaFleur; and very energetic employees of ZIP NOLA.
Researching the book also brought me a lot of unusual experiences – one day I had Chantilly cake in the morning and cricket cookies in the afternoon! Another time I found myself zipling with camera gear over a bunch of alligators. And do you know how hard it is to balance a camera while you are paddling around in a swan boat?
What stuck with me the most, however, was talking to so many business owners who, sometimes after various setbacks, stuck with their dreams to fruition. Often times their obstacle became their opportunity. Very inspiring!
I also have many friends who generously posed as models for me – it was truly a labor of love.
I hope you enjoy!