A Royal Ramble
Our driver was from London. As he made his way toward the city, we talked about the wedding between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle that had taken place only a few weeks earlier. I told him that practically all…
The Editor’s Room
Where Bunnies Roamed
After a year of experiencing just about any gathering as being “virtual,” we should be craving assemblies that are “actual” even if the congregation is just rabbits. There was a charm about the bunny village on display each year…
Elmers and Merlins: New Orleans' Confection Connection
When Rite Aid pharmacies first opened in New Orleans in 1997 the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania company already faced a hostile crowd. The chain had bought out locally owned Katz & Besthoff drug stores, affectionally known as “K&B.” The hurt began…
Lenten Legacies
A buddy of mine in high school once gave up drinking Coke for Lent. He was a big fan of the drink and I knew he would be frequently led into temptation during the 40 Lenten days. I witnessed…
Zoom Room Zen
A journalist acquaintance talked about covering a trial recently. Life being the way it is these days he had to watch from his home via Zoom. The trial was very emotional on all sides. He recalled having covered many…
March! The Month Deserves Better
March is arguably New Orleans’ best month. Lately it has also been the most picked on. Though there is stiff competition from February and April, March is the culturally richest month, especially toward the middle when St. Patrick’s and…
Carnival '21: Oaks, Floats and a Joke
Last week, on Ash Wednesday, we had lunch at Venezia’s on North Carrollton Ave. I was fortunate to be seated in such a way that I could see through the front window across the restaurant. Somewhere between the fettucine…
Lundi Gras - The Making of a New Old Tradition
There are some old traditions in Carnival. There are also some traditions thought to be ancient, but really are not. One of the latter is “Lundi Gras.” While the practice of Rex arriving by boat on the day before…
When Rex Met Zulu: A Lundi Gras Evening
Lundi Gras 1999 had extra excitement to it, at least for those gathered at Riverwalk near the stage at Spanish Plaza where Rex, King of Carnival, and his entourage would soon be arriving. What was different that year was…
Vaccine For The Carnival Blues
Sometimes hard times, such as this year’s Carnival, inspire positive genius. Making its way along the internet is a brilliant parody of “Masquerade,” the stirring song from “Phantom of the Opera.” The parody absorbs the melody; plays with the…
The Best of Carnival
This weekend would have been the march of the Krewe du Vieux. The rowdy krewe’s theme brilliantly matched the world of COVID:“We’ve got no taste.” No group maximizes tasteless as much as KduV. For all of us who do…
Midnight Trains
*This article originally published as Laborde's editor's note in the January/February 2021 issue of Louisiana Life Magazine Let us pause a moment to consider midnight trains: Winston Hall is a Shreveport musician, song writer and music history buff.…
Some Good News About Carnival – Finally
So far this season, finding good news about Carnival has been about as easy as trying to catch a Zulu coconut in a crowd, but every so often circumstances take a fortunate bounce in our direction. Challenging situations sometimes…
The Presidency and New Orleans
Joe Biden once spoke at UNO. I know because I was there. As I recall he spoke in the University Center's auditorium. The room was maybe half full, which was not bad considering that all that Biden was at…
King Cakes in the COVID Era
I suspect that this is going to be a good year for king cake sales, BUT there is also going to be a major crisis over the allocation of responsibility: In other words, who gets the baby now? To…
For Us, 12th Night Isn't An Ending, It's A Beginning
I have long maintained that for whatever maladies may haunt New Orleanians, post-Christmas letdown has not been one of them. While the rest of the world hauls its Christmas clutter to the shed, we deck…
Three Ways Christmas In New Orleans Is Unique From Others
New Orleans celebrates Christmas pretty much like any other American city, but it is in the nature of this city to never be totally normal; to be a bit quirky in whatever we do, and that includes the holidays. …
Bonfires on the Levee – The True Story
Because of COVID, Papa Noel will be on his own this Christmas Eve as he approaches Louisiana’s river parishes. We all know that the reason folks in St. James, and other river parishes, build bonfires on the night before…
To Jefferson Parish: Yes, Have Parades In May...Just Don't Call It Mardi Gras, Please
Orleans Parish was named after a French Aristocrat; Jefferson Parish was named after an American Statesman. You can usually count on statesmen to be a little hungrier than aristocrats and to try a little harder to make things happen.…
Carnival Denied: Learning From the "No Call Bowl"
For the first crisis, the enemy could not see; for the current crisis, we cannot see the enemy. Last time we were body-slammed as a society was due to a sight-impaired referee whose failure to see what the rest…
Facing Polio: When The Vaccines Arrived
A relative recalls the day in the ‘60s when he was taken to the gym at St. Dominic’s school. There, a nurse carried around a tray filled with small cups; each cup contained a sugar cube. For kids already…
Carnival's Choices: Harder and Harder
Imagine that you want to have a backyard barbecue but before you can you have to get the approvals of the city. An inspector visits, studies the situation, and after consultation issues a report. "Good news," he says, "you can…
Sky In The Eye
Pub Note: Errol Laborde’s Blog, the Editor’s Room, recently won First Place in the News Blog category at the Press Club of New Orleans’ annual awards competition. This was the third time that Laborde has won that award. …
Gerald Ford and Me
I had just picked up a scoop from an undisclosed source and placed it in my mental file. The scoop was that President Richard Nixon had reluctantly agreed to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the Watergate scandal. Nixon…
Knowledge About The College: Why Some Votes Are More Important Than Others
For all of you who are excited about the voting in the presidential election just remember one thing, electing a president is different than any other type of voting held in this country or elsewhere. Here’s the difference: An…
Lake Charles: Town, Target and Tune
Have you ever had a song keep rerunning in your mind? That’s happened to me lately. The song is by Louisianian Lucinda Williams who sings a bluesy, gravelly, gutsy style of country music. The song, which was released in…
Chief In State
A friend who was in a high school band the day President John Kennedy came to New Orleans (May 4, 1962) recalled the excitement. As the motorcade wound its way up St. Charles Avenue, the band director looked over…
A Presidential Story: When Power Eludes
Election years remind me of a friend who tells the story of once going camping with a buddy at Big Bend National Park in Southwest Texas. The year was 1970 and all was quite except for the squawks of…
Redirecting The Swoosh
We need to talk. Seriously. New Orleans is heading toward big trouble and it is going to take we citizens to save it. Last week, LSU economist Loren Scott delivered his annual Louisiana Economic Outlook address. Usually the speech is…
Why We Need Football
I have come to realize, in this terrible year, what medical science has probably known all along but has been too shy to say: We all need football. Even those who do not like the game are benefitted 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. He also serves as executive editor of New Orleans Magazine and Louisiana 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.
