More fun with photos

            Since I came out of the darkroom to being a thrift store photo hunter, I have come to realize I am not alone. After reading the June 29 column, Jim Davis, director of the Louisiana Center for the Book at the State Library of Louisiana, informed me of Ransom Riggs’ “Talking Pictures: Images and Messages Rescuedfrom the Past” and the odd photos inside the “Miss Peregrine Peculiar Children” books.

            “I have an unusual hobby,” Riggs writes in the introduction to his book, “I collect pictures of people I don’t know.”

            The book is full of odd photos of people doing fun and unusual things — sleeping on lawn chairs, drunk in the backyard, playing outlaws with guns — but it’s the accompanying comments that make it so wonderful. There’s a man hanging from a rope beneath a cactus with the inscription, “Me, believe it or not.” Or the person with his head literally in the sand, “The ostrich himself! (Phil).” A laughing woman from 1918 stands before the quote, “Treat me rough, kid.”

            Not all are funny; some are poignant and thought-provoking, like the happy soldiers glad to return home after a tour in Vietnam.

            If you want a story with your photos, the best-selling Miss Peregrine series by Riggs mixes up fiction with photography of children in strange poses that beg for a fun description.

            “Love that book,” Davis wrote me about “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children,” “though Hollow City is not as good, as sequels often aren’t.”
            So now that I know there are more books out there to feed my own fascination with old photos, especially ones with crazy writings on the back, I have my reading cut out for me.

Cheré Coen is the author of “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana” and “Exploring Cajun Country: A Historic Guide to Acadiana,” both from The History Press, and co-author of “Magic’s in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets.” She teaches writing at UL-Lafayette’s Continuing Education. Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.

'Vernacular photos' find a home in fun new book

            I have a secret hobby.

            I pick up old photographs in antique stores and thrift shops and research who they are, posting them online to hopefully reunite them with lost family and friends. And sometimes, I pick them up just for their aesthetic value and you can see many of these on my Pinterest boards.

            What a treat to find I’m not alone.

            The Museum of Modern Art in New York has been collecting photographs since around its inception in 1929. They now have more than 25,000 in the collection, many of which are “vernacular photography,” or photos “without artistic ambition.”

            A few of these photos — primarily women posing on lawns in good light — make up the first book in a series by Maira Kalman, Daniel Handler and the museum, where fun, everyday photos are collected and accented by artwork and prose.

            The first out the gate is “Girls Standing on Lawns,” women posing in the perfect artist studio for the early- to mid-20^th century, with its unlimited light source and space to be imaginative — or not. Some pose stiffly, others in wild dress or funny stances. “You don’t have to be self-conscious,” is one line to match a woman in a fluffy dress besides what looks like high corn in a backyard. “We’re all fools.”

            I adore this petite creative book, can’t wait for more. In its simplest form of showcasing women on lawns with the briefest of prose — “Stand for something, stand for something! Otherwise what do you stand for, why are you even standing?” — it offers a glimpse into American society that’s both serious and humorously irreverent.

            “We’re all, all of us, very foolish people standing around,” the authors attest.

            And I love every minute of it.

Wayward Girls

            Sadie is on the verge of adolescence in 1979, living in an idyllic New England suburb at the start of “The Longings of Wayward Girls” by Karen Brown. She’s both curious and imaginative and the summer before high school she and her best friend, Betty, are thrown together with Francie, an awkward girl whose family is shunned by the neighborhood.

            Not wanting to be associated with a geeky girl, Sadie and Betty play a prank on Francie, first making up a farm boy that’s supposedly interested in Sadie, then writing letters from the imagined farm boy to Francie, who replies in turn.

            But Sadie’s imaginary farm boy is actually Ray FIlley, a boy from the neighboring farm Sadie’s secretly attracted to. Only a few years before, in 1974, nine-year-old Laura Loomis had disappeared from the same neighborhood, a girl who looks remarkably like Sadie. Laura was never found. When Sadie and Betty write (as the farm boy) to Francie that he wishes to run away with her, Francie disappears as well.

            The girls believe Francie has run away, but as the years pass and neither child is seen from again, they learn to live with their guilty secret. As an adult, Sadie marries and has two children of her own. One day, Ray Filley returns to town and an attraction develops between them. Sadie must come to grips with her feelings for her family, Ray, her mother and the past that continues to haunt her.

            The book bounces back and forth between Sadie’s youth and as an adult, and I found that style really developed the suspense. Sadie is flawed, selfish and egotistical at times and when she makes grave mistakes you want to reach into the book and slap her, which develops the suspense even more. My only complaint was developments so obvious to Sadie and readers are ignored until the end, which lessened both the character and the plot in my eyes.

            Overall the book is well written and the story keeps you hanging, wanting for more. A great summer read!

New releases

            The sixth book in Jana DeLeon’s Ghost-in-Law mystery/romance series, “Chaos inMudbug,” set in a small town in Louisiana, is now available. For this title and others set in our state, visit http://janadeleon.com/.

            A good book to pick up this summer when you’re wondering what will grow in mid-year heat is “Deep South: Month-by-Month Gardening Alabama, Louisiana,Mississippi” by Nellie Neal. This handy guide takes you through each month, detailing information for a variety of plants with breakouts information on everything from how to grade a lawn to how to transplant during the summer.

Awards

            The Historic New Orleans Collection (THNOC) and the Louisiana Historical Association (LHA) awarded Scott P. Marler’s “The Merchants’ Capital: NewOrleans and the Political Economy of the Nineteenth-Century South” (Cambridge University Press 2013) as the winner of the 2013 Kemper and Leila Williams Prize in Louisiana History. Marler’s book covers the period of rapid growth and the following decline of New Orleans during the antebellum period and beyond. The Kemper and Leila Williams Prize, named for the founders of The Historic New Orleans Collection, is offered annually by THNOC and the LHA. Since its inception in 1974, the prize has recognized excellence in research and writing on Louisiana history. Recipients receive a cash award of $1,500 and a plaque and are announced at the LHA’s annual meeting each March. The hardback book, which retails for $95, is available for purchase at The Shop at The Collection, 533 Royal St. in New Orleans, www.hnoc.org or (504) 598-7147.

            A list of past Williams Prize recipients and the application information for next year’s prize are available at www.hnoc.org. Eligible works must explore an aspect of Louisiana history and culture or place Louisiana subjects in a regional, national or international context. The deadline for 2014 Williams Prize submissions is Jan. 15, 2015.

Cheré Coen is the author of “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana” and “Exploring Cajun Country: A Historic Guide to Acadiana,” both from The History Press, and co-author of “Magic’s in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets.” She teaches writing at UL-Lafayette’s Continuing Education. Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.

Lafayette author offers 'Wake Up Call'

            Many times we roll through life, rushing to our jobs and through the day’s work, hustling to balance career and family and not taking enough time to eat healthy meals and get appropriate exercise. We know it will catch up with us sooner or later, and sometimes it takes a wake-up call to get our attention to change our ways. Dr. David J. Barczyk, a Lafayette chiropractor and CEO of All !N Wellness offers many great arguments on making life changes before disease arrives in “Wellness Wake Up Call” by Old Man River Publishing. The book gives tests on whether you’re healthy or not, then gives solid cases for turning your life around. There’s lots to consider, from simple improvements such as having friends and smiling more (Barczyk offers research to back these up) to skipping junk food which not only improves general health but brain function as well. Most are simple adjustments and easy on the pocketbook, merely choices you can make every day. Barczyk’s book provides an easier to understand alternative to diet and exercise books. If you’re looking to change the insanity we sometimes get caught up in that’s detrimental to your health, try this wake up call.

New releases

            Sally Ann Roberts is co-anchor at WWL-TV’s Eyewitness Morning News in New Orleans and author of “Angelvision” and “Going Live: An Anchorwoman Reports Good News.” She’s just published “Your Power is On!: A Little Book of Hope” which marries inspirational Bible verses with serene photography by Eric Paulsen. The book aims to provide a collection of encouragement when life turns rocky.

            Jean Hulsey of Missouri and Angelena Hulsey Carpenter of Alexandria are mother and daughter who have survived breast cancer after each being diagnosed with the disease four years apart. They shared their journey to wellness through phone calls and visits and have written about the experience in “From One Survivor to Another…to Another…to Another: A Breast Cancer Survivor’s Handbook,” published by Crossbooks.

            Angelena Cortello was lost, dealing with emotional problems, addiction, prostitution and HIV. She turned her life around and now works as a technician at a central Louisiana addition recovery center. She recounts the experience from darkness to light in an inspirational book titled “Angel: The True Story of an Underserved Chance” as told to Rachael Hartman, also of central Louisiana. The book is published by Owl of Hope; for information, visit http://www.owlofhope.com.

            John E. Wade II of New Orleans founded Soldiers of Love, a non-profit organization dedicated to local schools and improving mental health. He has published a spiritual guide for finding peace in “Glimpses of Heaven on Earth: Inspiring Quotations and Insightful Essays” along with author and lecturers Charlotte Livingston Piotrowski and Daniel Agatino, Metta Center for Nonviolence Education president Michael Nagler and inspirational writer Martin Rutte. The book follows up Wade’s “How to Achieve a Heaven on Earth,” both published by Pelican Publishing of New Orleans.

Poetry contest

            The Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival’s Poetry Contest is now open for submissions with Vijay Seshadri, the 2014 Pulitzer Prize winner for his “3 Sections” collection, as judge. The contest winner will receive prize money, publication and access to panels and events at the next Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival, to be held March 25-29, 2015. Full details about the contest, including online submission process, are available at http://con13.tennesseewilliams.net/poetry-contest/. The contest deadline is Sept. 5.

Awards

            The Historic New Orleans Collection (THNOC) and the Louisiana Historical Association (LHA) awarded Scott P. Marler’s “The Merchants' Capital: New Orleans and the Political Economy of the Nineteenth-Century South” (Cambridge University Press 2013) as the winner of the 2013 Kemper and Leila Williams Prize in Louisiana History. Marler’s book covers the period of rapid growth and the following decline of New Orleans during the antebellum period and beyond. The Kemper and Leila Williams Prize, named for the founders of The Historic New Orleans Collection, is offered annually by THNOC and the LHA. Since its inception in 1974, the prize has recognized excellence in research and writing on Louisiana history. Recipients receive a cash award of $1,500 and a plaque and are announced at the LHA’s annual meeting each March. The hardback book, which retails for $95, is available for purchase at The Shop at The Collection, 533 Royal St. in New Orleans, www.hnoc.org or (504) 598-7147. A list of past Williams Prize recipients and the application information for next year’s prize are available at www.hnoc.org. Eligible works must explore an aspect of Louisiana history and culture or place Louisiana subjects in a regional, national or international context. The deadline for 2014 Williams Prize submissions is Jan. 15, 2015.

Book events

        Jane Vidrine and Jean Kiesel will sign copies of their new book, “Evangeline Parish,” this upcoming weekend (June 27-28) at the Smoked Meat Festival in Ville Platte.

Cheré Coen is the author of “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana” and “Exploring Cajun Country: A Historic Guide to Acadiana,” both from The History Press, and co-author of “Magic’s in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets.” She teaches writing at UL-Lafayette’s Continuing Education. Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.

Cookbook Thursday: Smoky barbecue beans and bacon from Roland Dickey's cookbook

            Roland Dickey heads up Dickey’s Barbecue with 200 locations nationwide. There are now two locations in the New Orleans area with one coming soon to Natchitoches.

            Dickey is also the author of “Mr. Dickey's Barbecue Cookbook: Recipes from a True Texas Pit Master,” published by Pelican Publishing of New Orleans. The following gives you a taste of his smoky cuisine.

Barbecue Beans

From “Mr. Dickey's Barbecue Cookbook”

1 slice Applewood bacon

3 tablespoons maple syrup

5 tablespoons light brown sugar

2 teaspoons yellow mustard

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon molasses

1 1/2 teaspoons liquid smoke (available in your grocer’s sauce aisle)

2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup beef broth

1 (28-ounce) can pork and beans

Kosher salt, to taste

Cracked black pepper, to taste

             Directions: Cut the slice of bacon in half and sauté it in a medium pot over low heat. Render the bacon for 7 to 8 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes. While the bacon is rendering, mix together the syrup, brown sugar, mustard, paprika, molasses, liquid smoke, vinegar, and beef broth in a large bowl. Set aside. Once the bacon is rendered, add the mixed ingredients to the pot, and stir for 10 seconds to deglaze the pan. Add the pork and beans and stir. Allow the beans to simmer on medium-low heat for 10 minutes. Season to taste and serve.

Cheré Coen is the author of “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana” and “Exploring Cajun Country: A Historic Guide to Acadiana,” both from The History Press, and co-author of “Magic’s in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets.” She teaches writing at UL-Lafayette’s Continuing Education. Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.

'Wellness Wake Up Call' may be just what doctor ordered

            Many times we roll through life, rushing to our jobs and through the day’s work, hustling to balance career and family and not taking enough time to eat healthy meals and get appropriate exercise. We know it will catch up with us sooner or later, and sometimes it takes a wake-up call to get our attention to change our ways. Dr. David J. Barczyk, a Lafayette chiropractor and CEO of All !N Wellness offers many great arguments on making life changes before disease arrives in “Wellness Wake Up Call” by Old Man River Publishing. The book gives tests on whether you’re healthy or not, then gives solid cases for turning your life around. There’s lots to consider, from simple improvements such as having friends and smiling more (Barczyk offers research to back these up) to skipping junk food which not only improves general health but brain function as well. Most are simple adjustments and easy on the pocketbook, merely choices you can make every day. Barczyk’s book provides an easier to understand alternative to diet and exercise books. If you’re looking to change the insanity we sometimes get caught up in that’s detrimental to your health, try this wake up call.

New releases

            Sally Ann Roberts is co-anchor at WWL-TV’s Eyewitness Morning News in New Orleans and author of “Angelvision” and “Going Live: An Anchorwoman Reports Good News.” She’s just published “Your Power is On!: A Little Book of Hope” which marries inspirational Bible verses with serene photography by Eric Paulsen. The book aims to provide a collection of encouragement when life turns rocky.

            Jean Hulsey of Missouri and Angelena Hulsey Carpenter of Alexandria are mother and daughter who have survived breast cancer after each being diagnosed with the disease four years apart. They shared their journey to wellness through phone calls and visits and have written about the experience in “From One Survivor to Another…to Another…to Another: A Breast Cancer Survivor’s Handbook,” published by Crossbooks.

            Angelena Cortello was lost, dealing with emotional problems, addiction, prostitution and HIV. She turned her life around and now works as a technician at a central Louisiana addition recovery center. She recounts the experience from darkness to light in an inspirational book titled “Angel: The True Story of an Underserved Chance” as told to Rachael Hartman, also of central Louisiana. The book is published by Owl of Hope; for information, visit http://www.owlofhope.com.

            John E. Wade II of New Orleans founded Soldiers of Love, a non-profit organization dedicated to local schools and improving mental health. He has published a spiritual guide for finding peace in “Glimpses of Heaven on Earth: Inspiring Quotations and Insightful Essays” along with author and lecturers Charlotte Livingston Piotrowski and Daniel Agatino, Metta Center for Nonviolence Education president Michael Nagler and inspirational writer Martin Rutte. The book follows up Wade’s “How to Achieve a Heaven on Earth,” both published by Pelican Publishing of New Orleans.

Poetry contest

            The Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival’s Poetry Contest is now open for submissions with Vijay Seshadri, the 2014 Pulitzer Prize winner for his “3 Sections” collection, as judge. The contest winner will receive prize money, publication and access to panels and events at the next Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival, to be held March 25-29, 2015. Full details about the contest, including online submission process, are available at http://con13.tennesseewilliams.net/poetry-contest/. The contest deadline is Sept. 5.

Book events

            Author Sam Irwin will be reading from his new book “Louisiana Crawfish: A Succulent History of the Cajun Crustacean” and showing his video “Je Suis Fou Pour des’Ecrevisse” at 4 p.m. Sunday, June 22, at the Baton Rouge Gallery, 1515 Dalrymple Drive in Baton Rouge. He will also sign “Louisiana Crawfish” at noon Wednesday at the West Baton Rouge Museum, part of the “Lunch and Learn.”

            Barnes and Noble Lafayette will host a Local Authors Expo at 2 p.m. Saturday at the store, 5707 Johnston St. in Lafayette. There will be numerous Louisiana authors present to sign copies of their books.

            Jane Vidrine and Jean Kiesel will sign copies of their new book, “Evangeline Parish,” this upcoming weekend (June 27-28) at the Smoked Meat Festival in Ville Platte.

Cheré Coen is the author of “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana” and “Exploring Cajun Country: A Historic Guide to Acadiana,” both from The History Press, and co-author of “Magic’s in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets.” She teaches writing at UL-Lafayette’s Continuing Education. Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.

Librarians examine Evangeline Parish in new book

             Jane Vidrine and Jean Kiesel are librarian colleagues at UL-Lafayette’s Edith Garland Dupré Library. Vidrine hails from Belaire Cove in Evangeline Parish and Kiesel focuses on the history and culture of south Louisiana.

            They made the perfect pair to pen the history of Evangeline Parish for Arcadia Publishing’s “Images of America” series. “Evangeline Parish” offers a compilation of historic photographs of the parish’s people, places and events, accompanied by parish history.

            Both authors have worked for more than 25 years in the Special Collections Department of Dupré Library.

            The authors will be signing copies of “Evangeline Parish” at the Smoked Meat Festival June 27-28 in Ville Platte and at the Bastille Day celebration from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. July 12 at the Northside Grand Pavilion in Ville Platte.

            Two other new books out by Arcadia are Edward J. Branley’s “New Orleans Jazz,” which includes more than 200 vintage images documenting the birth and development of jazz in New Orleans, and Alan G. Gautreaux’s “Italian Louisiana: History, Heritage and Tradition,” focusing on one of the largest immigrant groups to enter Louisiana, the trials they faced upon arrival and the culture they left behind.

            And it was quite a surprise to receive a copy of “Henri Bendel: From Louisiana Obscurity to Fame as Fashion Authority and Bon-vivant Icon” by Sally Robbins, part of the UL-Lafayette Flora Levy Lecture Series. I had just given my mother a tour of Bendel Gardens (she had never been before) and related what little I knew of Henri Bendel, a fascinating Lafayette native who made it big in the fashion world and who owned a small lodge on the Vermilion where the subdivision now exists.

            Robbins’ little book explains how Bendel “was one of the very few individuals who were instrumental in developing a market in America for fashionable finery.” He was a renaissance man, Robbins writes, who owned “a keen sense of the beautiful; a deep religious faith; and the importance of a loving and close-knit family….”

            To order a copy, which includes historic photographs, send $10 to Editor Dr. Maurice W. duQuesnay, P.O 44691, Lafayette, LA 70504.

Travel guide

            New Orleans writer and photographer Kerri McCaffety, author of “Obituary Cocktail” and “Napoleon House,” provides a visual tour of the Vieux Carré in “Let’s Walk the French Quarter,” published by Pelican Publishing of New Orleans. The book offers a self-guided tour of the Quarter with spotlights on attractions such as the Cabildo, historic homes and restaurants, plus St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 and great examples of New Orleans architecture.

            Sophia Dembling is an award-winning travel writer who loves the United States and it’s obvious in her new book, “100 Places in the USA Every Woman Should Go.” The book is divided into themes, such as “Essential Cities” (New Orleans included), “All-American Kitsch,” “The Great Outdoors” and “Tough Cookies You Should Know,” featuring great American women, from Annie Oakley and pioneering women to “Kick-Ass Texas Chicks.” She offers advice on spiritual retreats, great bookstores, Alaska’s Iditarod and national historic sites and parks dedicated to women, to name a few.

            I took Dembling’s advice on a recent trip to the Grand Canyon and checked out the architectural designs of Mary Jane Colter, who was chief architect and designer at the Fred Harvey Company, who built Harvey Hotels with the westward railroads. She designed the Canyon’s Bright Angel Lodge, Hermit’s Rest and the Hopi House, among so many wonderful buildings.

Book events

            Patrice Melnick, J. Bruce Fuller and Elizabeth Burk will read from their work, answer questions and sign copies of their work from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday at Café Joie de Vivre in Breaux Bridge. Melnick is the author of “Po-Boy Contraband: From Diagnosis Back to Life,” Fuller the author of poetry chapbooks including “Notes to a Husband” and Burk the author of the chapbook, “Learning to Love Louisiana.” The event is free, open to the public and food and beverages will be available for purchase. For more information, call (337) 442-6354.

            Lyrically Inclined Poetry Slam and Open Mic will be 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Black Café, 518 S. Pierce St. in downtown Lafayette. Doors open at 6 p.m. For information, contact PoeticSoul337@gmail.com.

            Author Sam Irwin will be reading from his new book “Louisiana Crawfish: A Succulent History of the Cajun Crustacean” and showing his video “Je Suis Fou Pour des’Ecrevisse” at 4 p.m. Sunday, June 22, at the Baton Rouge Gallery, 1515 Dalrymple Drive in Baton Rouge.

Cheré Coen is the author of “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana” and “Exploring Cajun Country: A Historic Guide to Acadiana,” both from The History Press, and co-author of “Magic’s in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets.” She teaches writing at UL-Lafayette’s Continuing Education. Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.

Summertime and the livin' is reading!

             It’s summertime and what a great season to kick back and enjoy a good book. Here are a few fiction suggestions of books by Louisiana authors.

            Andre Dubus III, author of “House of Sand and Fog” and “The Garden of Last Days,” returns with “Dirty Love,” linked novellas in which characters walk out the back door of one story and into the next. Dubus’s writing has received many honors, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, a National Magazine Award, and two Pushcart Prizes. He will sign copies of his new novel at 6 p.m. Thursday at Octavia Books in New Orleans.

            On a sidenote, The University of Mississippi Press has just published “Conservations with Andre Dubus,” a collection of interviews that begin with Dubus’ career and continues through his final interview before his death in 1999. A native of Lake Charles and father to Andre Dubus III, Andre Dubus published seven collections of short stories, two collections of essays, two collections of previously published stories, two novels and a novella. The book is edited by Olivia Carr Edenfield, associate professor at Georgia Southern University.

            New York Times bestselling author Karen White, who set a previous book on the Mississippi Coast (“The Beach Trees”) and some novels in Louisiana, offers a story of three generation in the Mississippi Delta with “A Long Time Gone.” She will be signing copies of her books at 5:30 p.m. June 18 at Turnrow Books in Greenwood, Miss.; at 5 p.m. June 19 at Lemuria Books in Jackson, Miss.; and at 6 p.m. June 20 at Octavia Books in New Orleans. 

            Chosen by one of Kirkus Reviews’ Best of 2013, Mark LaFlaur’s “Elysian Fields” takes readers through 1999 New Orleans as aspiring poet Simpson Weems dreams of moving to San Francisco only to be curtailed by a demanding family, mostly his emotionally unstable brother, Bartholomew. A Louisiana native LaFlaur now works as a writer and editor in New York City and blogs at Levees, Now War.

            Amy Conner of New Orleans has published her first novel, “a story of love and courage, the powerful impact of friendship, and the small acts that can anchor a life — or, with a little luck, steer it in the right direction at last” in “The Right Thing.”

            Gregory Alexander creates a Catholic priest who should never have joined the church but an unusual birthmark gave his Italian grandmother reason for pushing him in that direction in “The Holy Mark: The Tragedy of a Fallen Priest.” When his jealous uncle threatens to destroy him, Father Tony becomes determined to outwit both his uncle and the church. For more information, visit Theholymark.com. 

WGA signing

            The Writers Guild of Acadiana will host a multi-author signing from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at J&R Educational Supplies in Lafayette.  

            The authors are:

            John Francois, author of historical novels “The March,” “Cajun Fire,” “Cajun Knights,” “Carrier-of-Bones” and “Pontiac;”

            Melissa Abraham, author of the book of poetry, “A Prism of Thought;”

            Sudie Landry, author of “Listen To the Children;”

            Mel LeCompte, author of the children’s book, “The Ice Cream Cow” plus “Sharpened Iron;”            

            Jeanette Poole, author of a family cookbook and who will sell copies of the Writers’ Guild cookbook;

            Rosemary Smith, author of the children’s books, “Lizzie Walks On the Wild Side” and “Woody Gets Ducked;”

            Dennis Ward, author of “Mademoisell Gigi;”

            Kesha Turner, author of several novels, the latest being “A;”

            Robert Boese, author of the Casey Cook novels;

            Eleven-year-old Loren Bellow who is author of several books; and

            Dannille Kazemi, author of several young adult novels, including her latest, “Fallen Ashes,” book 21 in the Dragon’s Fire series.

Book events

            Scott Cowen launches his new book, “The Inevitable City: The Resurgence of NewOrleans and the Future of Urban America” at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Jewish Community Center in New Orleans. Cowen is the outgoing Tulane University President, a man New Orleans CityBusiness called one of the 30 “Driving Forces” in New Orleans in the last 30 years.

            And I’ll be leading the Acadiana Wordlab from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Acadiana Center for the Arts. My topic is “Get Your Mojo Working!,” where participants will not only make fun gris gris bags but really think about where inspiration comes from and how to focus on what you want from your writing. We’ll write, of course! 

Cheré Coen is the author of “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana” and “Exploring Cajun Country: A Historic Guide to Acadiana,” both from The History Press, and co-author of “Magic’s in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets.” She teaches writing at UL-Lafayette’s Continuing Education. Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.

Baton Rouge adoptee finds more than he bargained for, pens 'Most Dangerous Animal of All'

             Last week I mentioned the book that’s been in the news across America — “The Most Dangerous Animal of All: Searching for My Father and Finding The Zodiac Killer” by Baton Rouge’s Gary L. Stewart with Louisiana veteran writer Susan Mustafa. I received my review copy shortly afterwards but at that point I had read the news stories and wondered if there was anything new to glean from Stewart’s book.

            I was wrong, practically reading it in one sitting.

            As an infant Stewart was abandoned by his father in an apartment building in Baton Rouge, his birth parents arrested and he being adopted by a loving couple. Years later his birth mother, who was underage when she gave birth to Stewart, contacted him and they were reunited. Yet, Stewart always wondered about his birth father. When he began searching for the man, clues emerged that led Stewart to believe his father, Earl Van Best Jr., was the Zodiac killer who terrorized northern California in the 1960s.

            That Stewart’s father may be the killer of one of the 20^th century’s most horrific killing sprees, crimes that were never solved, is an amazing story in its own right but the depths of which Stewart pieced the mystery together makes for an even more engaging tale. For instance, Stewart connected with one of his father’s friends from school and learned of Best’s habits, interests and beliefs, background information offering clues into the life of a possible psychopath. There’s also a connection to the Manson murders in Los Angeles. So many elements of Best’s past gave reasons for his criminal actions, including the cryptic letters he sent the police and media.

            For me, the biggest question of all was why the San Francisco Police Department failed to provide Stewart with information on his father, the author suggesting a cover-up to protect one of its own, a police office who ironically married his birth mother. If you’ve seen the “Zodiac” movie based on the murders it could be that they believed the killer was someone else.

            There’s so much to relay about this story that I’m going to leave you with this — check out any number of Stewart interviews online or buy the book and get the whole sordid tale. I recommend the latter. Or you can do what I did and read the book, then followup with the film for more information and online interviews to see what the police department said in its defense.

Come Landfall

            Today marks the beginning of hurricane season, not something I really want to think about, but to set the mood Mobile Press-Register reporter Roy Hoffman has penned a new novel that deals with loss and renewal along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. “Come Landfall” follows three women and men, examples of the dichotomy of the Coast with its casinos, antebellum homes and the waves of immigration, such as the recent Vietnamese.

            Hoffman is author of the novels “Almost Family,” winner of the Lillian Smith Award, and “Chicken Dreaming Corn,” endorsed by Harper Lee. He is the author of two essay collections, “Back Home: Journeys Through Mobile” and “Alabama Afternoons: Profiles and Conversations.” A graduate of Tulane, he received the 2008 Clarence Cason Award from the University of Alabama's College of Communication and Information Sciences. He teaches for Spalding University's brief-residency MFA in Writing Program.  

            In other related news, Nicholas Meis, author of “New Orleans Hurricanes from the Start,” will read from and sign books from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Octavia Books in New Orleans.

New releases

            Kathy Ezell, a West Monroe single parent of two children, kept asking herself what would her children experience if she had to leave them with her mother after being a victim of domestic violence.

            “I know my parents would raise them but would my children ask, who will tuck us in at night, who will read our bedtime stories, who will kiss us goodnight?” she wrote me.

            Ezell has published a children’s book addressing this issue in “Phil E Gumbo: Who Will Kiss Us Goodnight?” about two crawfish, Phil E. Gumbo and his sister Penny, who suddenly have to live with Grandma Rue after losing their parents. The family has to adjust to the sadness of losing family members along with the challenges that come along with living together.

            Ezell wrote “Phil E Gumbo: Who Will Kiss Us Goodnight?” after a co-worker fell victim to domestic violence. The book is available at www.amazon.com.

Word Up

            Word Up is a summer creative writing camp for students who wish to improve their prose and poetry skills. The camp will be held on LSU-Eunice’s campus from July 28 to Aug. 1 and is open to students in grades 4-12. Teachers are invited to attend the students’ formal reading on Aug. 1 and teacher consultants for the Acadiana Writing Project will be on hand to discuss writing exercises that teachers might want to use in their classrooms and to pass on professional development opportunities to revitalize writing instruction. Registration information can be found by visiting http://www.lsue.edu/BengalCamp. For more information, contact Chrissy Soileau at ccifelli17@aol.com or Jill Dover atjilldover@gmail.com.

Book events

            Voices Seasonal Reading Series presents a special evening with Darrell Bourque as he reads from this new work, “If you abandon me, comment je vas faire: An Amédé Ardoin Songbook,” at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Carpe Diem! Gelato-Espresso Bar in downtown Lafayette.

            Octavia Books presents Khaled Hosseinii, the New York Times-bestselling author of “The Kite Runner, with a presentation and signing celebrating the paperback release of “And The Mountains Echoes” at 5:30 p.m. Sunday, June 8, at Temple Sinai in New Orleans. The author will be interviewed by David Johnson, editor of Louisiana Cultural Vistas. Tickets are required. For more information, visit http://www.octaviabooks.com/.

Cheré Coen is the author of “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana” and “Exploring Cajun Country: A Historic Guide to Acadiana,” both from The History Press, and co-author of “Magic’s in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets.” Coming this fall is a history of Forest Hill, Louisiana. Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.