Can "Normal" Really Be "New?" Just Asking
My pick of the buzz phrase for wicked 2020 is “New Normal.” It is used often to describe the way things are going to be different as we make our way through COVID-19. Offices spaces will change; so will…
Author: Errol Laborde
From the Editor: From Abbeville To Zwolle
One semester in college I had a professor who started every class with the same question, “Is anybody here from Clarence?” After the first couple of classes it was evident that none of us was from the Natchitoches Parish village,…
Tujague's
If you had dined at Tujague’s Restaurant anytime between the years 1856 and 2013 you would not have had to think very hard about what to order. Known as a “Table d’hôte” menu there would be five courses, four of which were…
Staycation Nation
“Staycations” is the operative word in travel this year. With the world travel market in a tizzy, destinations are appealing to locals to revisit home. That’s the theme of this issue, as it is for many magazines. This is the…
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Blaine Kern In Viareggio
Float builder Blaine Kern’s death last week, at 93, brought to mind the story of a former Rex Captain, Darwin Fanner, who in 1956 hired the 29-year-old Kern to build the Rex parade. Kern had been building the ALLA…
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Need Help From Voodoo? This Might Be The Week
Maybe what we all need these days is a big dose of Voodoo. If so, this Tuesday, June 23, is St. John’s Eve. That’s a high holy day in the Voodoo world. New Orleans, as far as I know,…
Spring 2020: The Lost Season
Let us pause for a moment and remember Spring 2020... A moment is all it should take. Or it could take a lifetime if you are obsessed with chronicling grief. Surely Spring 2020, which ends next Saturday, June 20,…
Should We Try Again To Neutralize Hurricanes?
I know, we should be cautious of messing around with Mother Nature, but just for fun let us propose this argument: We have wondered about warts, colds, viruses and crabgrass and now each time a tropical system enters the…
Of Masks, Disasters and Governors
Ninety-three years ago the Governor of Louisiana was Oramel H. Simpson, who had ascended to the post from being Lt. Governor. Among his accomplishments was to sign a bill outlawing public masking except on Mardi Gras and at masquerade…
Courts & Krewes
What does old-line mean? We define “old-line krewes” to be those krewes that were incorporated before 1950 and that maintain the social traditions of the older krewes. What’s the difference between being a Maid and being a Debutante? Maids are…
Streetcar: 5 Worst Calamities in New Orleans History
At this point the pandemic is still a current, live tragedy, but before passing judgment we’ll wait until the incident is buffered by time. Besides, it is not just local, but global. Focusing instead on the regional disasters, here’s my…
Evangeline At A Time Of COVID
We have all experienced our Evangeline Oak moments this year. In 1928 Huey Long, then a little known candidate for governor, stood beneath the St. Martinville oak and made a speech that is a classic in American politics. Referring…
Memorial Day on a Different Battlefield
Next Monday is Memorial Day, a time for remembering our military. The day feels a little different this year because, in a sense, we are all in another world war, only the enemy is invisible. As in the two…
A COVID Lesson: No One Rules Absolutely
This week is the 75th anniversary of VE day, a celebration of the date, May 8, on which the peace treaties were finalized and World War II ended in Europe. The battles in the Pacific still raged, but for…
Why Carnival Should Persevere
During the immediate post-Katrina days of 2005 Mayor Ray Nagin went to the Northshore one Sunday evening to talk to a group of displaced New Orleanians. They wanted to know about the condition of the city and when they…
From the Editor: Our Commitment
A SPECIAL EDITORIAL We have all experienced our Evangeline Oak moments this year. In 1928 Huey Long, a then little-known candidate for governor, stood beneath the oak and made a speech that is a classic in American politics. Referring to…
Bullying With A Purpose
Usually when the word “bully” is used in the vicinity of City Hall the reference is to the reigning mayor and not to the mayor’s correspondents. To have been elected, all mayors must have some diplomatic skills; but to…
Italy
A tour guide at the back of the boat was pointing to some of the sites as the craft raced toward Bellagio (the real village not the hotel in Vegas.) Italy’s lake region is one of the most picturesque spots in…
Rose on the Rise
Since 2006, it has been common when referring back to an incident in contemporary time to refer to it as being “pre-Katrina.” Now we, and the world, will be speaking about “pre-Corona.” For “pre-” to have some boundaries there must…
When Zooming Goes Viral
During our 2005 Hurricane Katrina exile we were in a coffee shop in upstate Alexandra. At a nearby table were two coeds who, we had learned from a brief conversation, were from Sweden and were attending the University of…
Thinking About Italy This Easter Week
A tour guide at the back of the boat was pointing to some of the sites as the craft raced toward Bellagio (the real village not the hotel in Vegas). Italy’s lake region is one of the most picturesque…
Three Times (At Least) Mardi Gras Helped Save New Orleans
This Mardi Gras marked 163 year since Comus started what would be the continuing parading tradition. The current Carnival post-season is the first time that a virus has ever been an issue. To the discussion, I submit the following: 1872…
In Search of Pain Perdu
“Lost Bread” was a common home-cooked breakfast when I was a school kid, though I often stumbled at pronouncing it. My parents, who came from French Louisiana, used the native words, “pain perdu” which translates roughly to “lost bread.” Now…
Filé Jumbo
When your great uncle was known as “Blind Willie,” and when the tools of his trade, which are still in use, are 116 years old, you have to figure there is a story there. And there is. Baton Rouge resident…
Joseph and Patrick: The Lost Feast Days
Late in the afternoon last Thursday, March 19, I stood at the front door of Angelo Brocato’s. In the world of Italian confections Brocato’s is perhaps the best there is, including the old country. There is significance to the…
When Life Turns Everything Upside Down
For most of our Katrina exile we stayed at a relative’s home in the central Louisiana town of Marksville. One Sunday evening I needed to get a fill-up at the nearest gas station, which was down the highway at…
Lindy At The Vatican
This Friday, March 13, will be the birthday of the late Lindy Boggs (1916), who during her career served as a member of congress and then later was Ambassador to what is officially known as “The Holy See.” No…
Speaking Of Tandems
Usually when people have travel stories, the tale seldom centers on the part when the airplane was taxiing on the runway. For August Perez III, a glimpse through the window would open the way to a major innovation in…
Sentimental Journeys
Some relatives once recalled to me their honeymoon in 1945. They were married in central Louisiana shortly after he returned home from the war. During that time, many purchases were limited. An uncle gave her some of his ration stamps…
Streetcar by Errol Laborde: Lady New Orleans
Imagine that your dad was known as “Jack the Cat.” That would have probably given you a little more standing on the school playgrounds, especially since dad was a radio DJ at a time when record spinners were idolized by…
The Editor's Room
Weekly Commentary with New Orleans Magazine’s Errol Laborde
about
Errol Laborde holds a Ph.D. in political science from the University of New Orleans and is the editor-in-chief of Renaissance Publishing. In that capacity he serves as editor/associate publisher of New Orleans Magazineand editor/publisher ofLouisiana Life magazine.
Errol is also a producer and a regular panelist on Informed Sources, a weekly news discussion program broadcast on public television station WYES-TV, Channel 12. Errol is a three-time winner of the Alex Waller Award, the highest award given in print journalism by the Press Club of New Orleans. He also received the National and City Regional Magazine Association Award for Best Column for his New Orleans Magazine column, beating out 76 city magazines across the country. In 2013, Errol received the award for the "Best News Affiliated Blog," awarded by the Press Club of New Orleans.
Errol’s most recent books are Krewe: The Early Carnival from Comus to Zulu and Marched the Day God: A History of the Rex Organization. In his free time he enjoys playing tennis and traveling with his wife, Peggy, to anywhere they can get away to, but some of his favorite spots are the Caribbean and historic locations around Louisiana. You can reach Errol at (504) 830-7235 or errol@myneworleans.com.
