C.C. Lockwood spotlights Louisiana Nature Conservancy in gorgeous new book

             The Nature Conservancy of Louisiana protects and maintains more than 285,000 acres within the state, including Cypress Island at Lake Martin, Caddo Bayou Black, Grand Isle, Lake Cocodrie, the Tunica Hills and the Bluebonnet Swamp in Baton Rouge. Now, renowned Louisiana nature photographer C.C. Lockwood celebrates those unique habitats in photos and text in “Louisiana Wild, The Protected and Restored Lands of The Nature Conservancy,” published by LSU Press.

This gorgeous new coffee table book by Lockwood honors and celebrates what makes Louisiana special, plus calls attention to the preservative work of the Conservancy while delighting the senses with his breath-taking artistry. Readers will be amazed at the biodiversity of Louisiana, plus realize there are preserves located throughout the state — more than 60 in 33 parishes, — many of which may only be familiar to birders and nature enthusiasts.

Throughout it all, Lockwood hopes to instill in his readers a love for nature.

“When we come to understand the tremendous value of our emotional connection to everything else on this earth, we can begin to make this a better place for all living things,” he writes in the introduction.

The book contains 220 color images and includes a foreword by Keith Ouchley, executive director of The Nature Conservancy of Louisiana and author of  “Bayou-Diversity: Nature and People in the Louisiana Bayou Country.” Lockwood is also the author of several photography books and is the recipient of the Sierra Club’s Ansel Adams Award for Outstanding Conservation Photography and has been honored as Louisiana Legend by Louisiana Public Broadcasting.

Lockwood will present images from “Louisiana Wild,” accompanied by music and stories, at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Manship Theatre in Baton Rouge. The event is free and open to the public and there will be a book sale and signing following the presentation.

  

New releases

Geri Givens Taylor of Ruston wears a lot of hats — multidisciplinary artist, photographer, actor, playwright, writer and community volunteer. The Louisiana Tech graduate is also an author. Her book, “The Kitchen Dance,” follows Joule Dalton, a successful interior designer whose life is choreographed by her loved ones until a tragedy forces her to learn her own steps. For more information, visit http://www.g2taylor.com/.

Melinda Rose documents the fragile South Louisiana community of Isle de Jean Charles, attached to the mainland by a narrow 2-mile-long road, in her book, “Of the Rising Tide: A Photo Essay of the Vanishing Bayou Community of Isle de Jean Charles.” Chris is one of 40 remaining Islanders, all descendants of the Choctaw- Chitimacha Indian tribes who have called the once-thriving Gulf community home for more than a century. She will discuss and sign copies of her book at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Garden District Book Shop and at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 23, at the Children’s Resource Center Library and 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 30, at the Rosa F. Keller Library and Community Center, all in New Orleans.  

LSU Press has published a biography of LSU football star Billy Cannon. Through conversations with Cannon, author Charles N. deGravelles follows the athlete-turned-reformer from his boyhood in a working-class Baton Rouge neighborhood to his sudden rush of fame as the leading high school running back in the country in “The Rise and Fall (and Redemption) of Billy Cannon.” Cannon was LSU’s only Heisman Trophy winner, leading the Tigers to a national championship in 1958, but was also indicted for counterfeiting and worked as a staff dentist at Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola.

Adam Johnson includes a story about the double devastation of hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, titled “Hurricane Anonymous,” in his short story collection “Fortune Smiles.” Johnson won a Pulitzer Prize for his novel, “The Orphan Master’s Son” in 2012.

NancyKay Sullivan Wessman’s looks at the heroic efforts of first responders after Hurricane Katrina slammed the Mississippi Coast in a work of creative nonfiction titled “Katrina Mississippi: Voice from Ground Zero,” published by Triton.

            Tom Piazza of New Orleans has published a novel featuring Henry Sims, a fugitive slave and musician, who has escaped to Philadelphia and ends up performing incognito in a minstrel troupe in “A Free State.” Piazza will sign copies of his novel from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Garden District Book Shop in New Orleans.

Book news

Congratulations to Lisa Graley of the UL-Lafayette English staff for winning with Anne Raeff this year's Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction. Graley’s "The Current That Carries" and Raeff’s "The Jungle All Around Us" will be published by University of Georgia Press in the fall of 2016.

Graley coordinates the Interdisciplinary Humanities program at UL and has published short stories in Glimmer Train, The McNeese Review, and Water~Stone Review. Her book of poetry, “Box of Blue Horses” by Gival Press, was nominated for the National Book Award. She has received an Artist Fellowship from the Louisiana Division of the Arts, an ATLAS grant from the Louisiana Board of Regents and in 2010 was also awarded the Dr. Ray Authement Excellence in Teaching Award.

Book events

Lyrically Inclined Poetry Slam and Open Mic, hosted by Poetic Soul, will begin at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Black Café, 518 S. Pierce St. in Lafayette. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the cover charge is $5.

Melinda Rose discuses and signs her book, “Of The Rising Tide: A Photo Essay of the Vanishing Bayou Community of Isle de Jean Charles” at 6 p.m. at Garden District Book Shop of New Orleans.

Warren and Mary Perrin signs copies of “Acadie Then and Now: A People’s History” at 5:45 p.m. Wednesday at the Sliman Theater in New Iberia. For more information, call (337) 233-5832, or email perrin@plddo.com.

            Michael Murphy signs “Fear Dat: New Orleans — A Guide to the Voodoo, Vampires, Graveyards and Ghosts of the Crescent City” at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Octavia Books of New Orleans.
            Pulitzer Prize-winning author David I. Kertzer presents “The Pope and Mussolini” Thursday at the Freedom Pavilion of the World War II Museum in New Orleans. There will be a 5 p.m. reception, following by a 6 p.n. presentation and 7 p.m. book signings.

Cheré Dastugue Coen is the author of “Forest Hill, Louisiana: A Bloom Town History,” “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana” and “Exploring Cajun Country: A Historic Guide to Acadiana” and co-author of “Magic’s in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets.” She also writes Louisiana romances under the pen name of Cherie Claire, “A Cajun Dream” and “The Letter.” Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.

Tom Piazza to receive 2015 Louisiana Writer Award

The State Library of Louisiana through its Louisiana Center for the Book announced that New Orleans resident Tom Piazza is the recipient of the 2015 Louisiana Writer Award, awarded annually to recognize outstanding contributions to Louisiana’s literary and intellectual life.

Tom Piazza is celebrated both as a novelist and as a writer across all aspects of American music. His 12 books include the novels “City of Refuge” and the forthcoming “A Free State,” the post-Katrina manifesto “Why New Orleans Matters,” and “Devil Sent the Rain: Music and Writing in Desperate America,” a collection of his essays and journalism. He was a principal writer for the innovative HBO drama series “Treme” and the winner of a Grammy Award for his liner notes to Martin Scorsese “Presents the Blues: A Musical Journey,” as well as a three-time winner of the ASCAP Deems Taylor Award for Music Writing. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Bookforum, Oxford American, Columbia Journalism Review and many other periodicals.

Lt. Governor Jay Dardenne and State Librarian Rebecca Hamilton will present Piazza with the 16th Louisiana Writer Award on Oct. 31,  2015, in a ceremony at the beginning of the 2015 Louisiana Book Festival. Piazza will also discuss his work and career with author Michael Tisserand.

            Past recipients of the Louisiana Writer Award include novelists Ernest J. Gaines, James Lee Burke, Christine Wiltz, John Biguenet, Shirley Ann Grau, Elmore Leonard, Tim Gautreaux, Valerie Martin and James Wilcox; children's author William Joyce; historian Carl Brasseaux; scholar Lewis P. Simpson; and poets William Jay Smith, Yusef Komunyakaa and Darrell Bourque.

For more information about the festival and Piazza, visit LouisianaBookFestival.org.

Chere Dastugue Coen is the author of "Forest Hill, Louisiana: A Bloom Town History," "Exploring Cajun Country: A Historic Guide to Acadiana" and "Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana" and co-author of "Magic's in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets." She also writes Louisiana romances under Cherie Claire, including "A Cajun Dream" and "The Letter." Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.

Barkley, Secret Service Dog

There’s a new cartoon character in the White House — and no, this is not a political dig. A new chapter book series has been published involving Barkley, a secret service dog patrolling the halls of the White House. This charming series aimed at children ages 8-12 began this summer with “The Case of the Purple Diamonds.” The book, and those that will follow, contain an interesting cast of characters and Barkley’s high-tech Gizmo Gear, plus 12-year-old Gabby who teams up with Barkley to solve cases. The books are the creation of H.K. Gilbert of Shreveport and screenwriter Misty Taggert (“Scooby Doo,” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”). Together they make up Gilbert & Taggert Entertainment Properties, with illustrations by Tim Davis. Coming out this fall will be “Invasion of the Ice Age,” where Gabby’s science teacher accidentally sets off his Ice-0-Matic Blaster just before the president arrives, and this winter it’s “The Mystery of the Ghostly Guest,” involving dead White House pirates who continue to hang around. For information on the “Barkley, Secret Service Dog” series, visit www.Barkley-ChapterBooks.com.

New releases

Preston Lauterbach discusses the Chitlin’ Circuit, an underground circuit of Southern musical clubs frequented by African American musicians, in “The Chitlin’ Circuit: And the Road to Rock ’n’ Roll.” Preston looks at musicians James Brown, B.B. King, Little Richard and Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, as well as Chicago Defender columnist Walter Barnes and gambler Denver Ferguson.

Louisiana romance icon Jennifer Blake has published a new series involving three sisters and a curse titled “The Three Graces Trilogy;” any man betrothed to the three Graces of Graydon without love will be doomed to die. The first two books in the series are “By His Majestry’s Grace” and “By Grace Possessed” with “Seduced by Grace” arriving later this month. Sourcebooks has also reprinted Blake’s “Midnight Waltz,” set in Southern Louisiana in the 1850s and concluding with the hurricane at Isle Derniere, or Last Island, in 1856.           
Tom Piazza of New Orleans collects writings on American roots music, New Orleans, desperate times and more in “Devil Sent the Rain: Music and Writing in Desperate America.” Piazza is the author of “City of Refuge” and “Why New Orleans Matters.”

Todd-Michael St. Pierre has created a fun-loving, big-boned feline who loves to dance and enjoy life in New Orleans, but who longs for a mate in “Fat Tuesday Mardi Gras: La Chatte Noire” by Piggy Press. This adorable book has Chatte Noire going out on dates to places such as Cat O’Brien’s and St Louis CAThedral but no one stirs her fancy until she hears the sounds of Max playing "killer sax." Illustrated by Diane Millsap, the book is published in English and in French.

The Images of America series of Arcadia Publishing has released “K&B Drugs Stores” by John S. Epstein, with a foreword by Sydney J. Besthoff III, grandson of the founder with Gustave Katz of the Katz and Besthoff drugstore chain. The book showcases wonderful old photos of the 50 New Orleans stores, plus the others located throughout six states during the business’s 92-year span. The book also contains photos of old advertisements, fountain menus, K&B products (with their trademark purple) and even K&B LSU football schedules. For anyone who fondly remembers eating K&B ice cream at their counters, the purple paper bags or the “double checked” prescriptions, they will love this trip down memory lane.

100 Thousand Poets

On Sept. 24, several Louisiana poets will be part of the 100 Thousand Poets for Change, the largest poetry event in history involving more than 500 events in 350-plus cities in 80 countries. In Louisiana, two events will occur in New Orleans and one in Lafayette. Numerous poetry–related events will happen at the Acadiana Center for the Arts in downtown Lafayette, with the $6 admission being donated to non-profit organizations. Poets from Shreveport, Lake Charles, Baton Rouge and throughout Acadiana are scheduled to participate, and the ULL poetry group will perform a series of open-space musical and literary skits.  During the intermission, Webcasts of other 100 Thousand Poets for Change events will run in the AcA's James Devin Moncus Theatre. The Lafayette event will be webcast and recorded and archived by UC Stanford’s LOCKSS program. For more information, visit www.bigbridge.org/100thousandpoetsforchange.