Streetcar: The Secret
One Christmas season as a kid, I took it on myself to contain a terrible secret, as though I was sparing the world from ever finding out. But the moment of truth was coming. A thing to do during the…
Author: Illustration by Arthur Nead
Streetcar: The Season of ‘99
As season openers went it was promising. The Saints began the 1999 season on the road against the Carolina Panthers. Featuring a squad that carried two Heisman trophy winners: Danny Wuerffel, a quarterback out of the University of Florida, and…
Streetcar: The Arrival
We were up early to see a lady who would be standing on a small island in the harbor. According to the cruise ship’s captain, we should be passing the Statue of Liberty around 7 a.m. The cruise director suggested…
Streetcar: Back Street of Naples
Our group was walking through a back street of Naples on the way to an historic cemetery when the tour guide assured us that our destination was only about a kilometer away. We Americans are often illiterate about the metric…
Streetcar: A Fair’s Farewell
On the closing night of the 1984 World’s Fair, Congressmember Lindy Boggs stood on the big amphitheater stage. With the passing ships on the river as the background, Boggs and Seymore D. Fair, the event’s pelican mascot, plus some miscellaneous…
Streetcar: A Dirge from the Pantheon
At nearly 6 p.m. on Saturday, June 8, a crowd gathered at the edge of the old Treme neighborhood outside the new Seven Three Distillery, where the locally made products include Gentilly Gin, Bywater Bourbon and Marigny Moonshine. Many in…
Streetcar: D-Day Through Time
Some kids were playing on Omaha Beach, building sand castles. Nearby an adult couple walked along the sand at shore’s edge, presumably looking for shells, the nautical kind rather than those fired from cannons. The shards of war have long…
Streetcar: A Mardi Gras Strike
Forty years ago this Mardi Gras season, New Orleans and its Carnival faced a crisis together. Both would be enriched by the experience, though there would be plenty of pain and stress along the way. At issue were the New…
Streetcar: Season of the Boucherie
An aunt in Avoyelles parish traditionally would give me a pack of boudin for Christmas. It was a wonderful gift, except for the Christmas after Katrina when the car trunk tended to be loaded down with paraphernalia for survival in…
Streetcar: A Russian Landing
A woman I know tells the story of a day when she, as a young girl, was riding her bicycle. Right at noon there was a loud blast in the otherwise quiet summer day. She was so startled by…
Streetcar: The Wrath of Gustav
For as long as there are occasional ill winds, those who experienced it will remember September 2005, with Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. Forgotten, but worthy of its own spot in the book of urban turmoil is Hurricane Gustav which…
From K&B, Rite Aid and Onward
When I first saw the signs on the Rite Aid drug stores showing the switch to Walgreens, it reminded me of the day in 1997 when I was driving on Canal Boulevard and saw a work crew taking down a…
Streetcar: A Korean Star
Korea is a place, the mention of which seldom ignites happy thoughts. When that country has been mentioned lately, a butterfly flitters from beyond an imaginary wall as a reminder of a certain Korean man who once lived in New…
Streetcar: The Goats of Canal Street
Their names are Artie and Miles and they live on Canal Street. Research is limited on this particular topic, but I have a hunch that of all the grand streets in the world, Canal Street is the only one that…
Streetcar: A Mayor, An Inauguration and Two Crises
May 1, 1978 was a fine day, especially for Dutch Morial who stood at the place of honor on the grandstand erected in front of City Hall. The crowd watched as Morial, dressed in the traditional white suit of mayors-elect…
How Bienville Got His Name
His name was Jean-Baptiste LeMoyne. His brother’s name was Pierre. Because of the intricacies of 17th century peerage and tradition, both would have extra words tagged to their name. Both would be more commonly known in history by names that…
Lyons Street At Annunciation
The View From Grit’s Bar
Christmas 2004
Life’s window
The Games that Were
It was one hour before kickoff to the Saints game at the Superdome and lunch, as prepared in the plush club lounge, offered some savory choices. I was tempted to go for the barbecued brisket plate but I had that…
4 Suggestions
My letter from the managers of the Waldorf Hotel group, asking me what they should do to convert the former Fairmont (once Roosevelt) Hotel to incorporate it into their own brand, hasn’t arrived – yet. Since they might be too…
STREETCAR: A WITNESS To HISTORY
Joe Sabatier, M.D., was a Tulane medical student, who in 1935 was assigned to work at Our Lady of the Lake hospital in Baton Rouge. “I’m not sure what my title was,” Sabatier recalls, “but I think I was really…
STREETCAR: THE FIG AND ME
On the morning of Fri., July 6, 2007, I spotted the bulb as though it was staring back at me from beneath a leaf. This was a moment that had been a long time coming but would not have come…
ALEC BALDWIN AND FAMILY
Alec Baldwin had a request as the limousine sped from the airport to the Windsor Court Hotel. He asked the two board members of the Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival who were escorting him into town to “take [him] to…
STREETCAR: Oscar and the Spider Monkey
Oscar could relate to our experiences though he’s too busy trying to resolve his. Until Hurricane Wilma flattened Cancun in October 2005, Oscar worked at a hotel there. The hurricane destroyed the Mexican resort town’s only industry – tourism –…
STREETCAR: BAY ST. LOUIS REVISITED
Finding the Fire Dog Saloon along Bay St. Louis’ old town waterfront isn’t hard. It is the only building still standing. At least its shell has survived – its innards flooded or sprayed across town like all the neighboring buildings…
STREETCAR: SCHOEN, MANDINA’S and streetcars
With each new reopening of a business in my neighborhood, Mid-City, I have been anxious to be a customer again, with one exception – Schoen Funeral Home. Schoen is a beautiful building and in its restored state it’s grander than…
STREERCAR: PARADE GEOGRAPHY THAT WAS
On the Sunday before Mardi Gras, the priest at St. Anthony Church on Canal Street always had to hurry his homily – either that or compete with tractor noise from outside and an occasional trumpet echoing from St. Patrick Street.Lower…
STREETCAR: LAST DAYS OF Maylies
Adecade of New Year’s Eves have begun since the last day of 1986 when a few of us gathered for lunch. Time’s passage reverberated from the walls around us and was reflected in the few other faces in the room,…
STREETCAR: Halls Once Decked
This was not the way it was supposed to be. My father loved Christmas and he was always quick to decorate his house at the corner of Bellaire Drive and 37th Street. The decorations were not Copeland--ish in scale, but…
STREETCAR: Nagin’s Second Term, the first few days
On the day after his reelection, Mayor Ray Nagin spoke to a group at St. Peter Claver Catholic Church in the Treme neighborhood. According to a report in The Times-Picayune, Nagin said, “he hoped businesses would join him in creating…
