Letters

Explaining the Fall

Re: “A Queen Falls: The surrender of New Orleans was a critical moment in the Civil War,” by Ron Chapman. March 2012 issue.

Thank you very much for your article “A Queen Falls,” the story about the fall of New Orleans in the “War Between the States,” which appeared in your March 2012 issue.

My great grandfather Erickson was a private in the Confederate Army stationed at Fort Jackson. I always wondered how New Orleans could fall so quickly, but didn’t have the time to research it.

Your article did a magnificent job on explaining the fall: not enough troops, not enough weapons and not enough ammunition. Why? Because the powers that be at the time decided all were needed elsewhere. A poor decision in hindsight caused a typical military defeat!

Any thoughts on a follow-up affront – the Yankee occupation under Farragut? Tradition has it that he was brutal. He even had troops going door-to-door confiscating silverware!

Bruce Erickson Wenzel, Ph.D.
Madison, MS

Ed. Reply: We will keep an eye on Admiral Farragut and maybe look for that lost silverware. Until then: Damn the torpedoes; full speed ahead!


Award Winner

Re: “Lifting a Glass: Bill Goldring, recipient of the 2012 Ella Brennan Lifetime Achievement Award as presented by the New Orleans Wine & Food Experience,” by Jay Forman. May 2012 issue.

Enjoyed your write-up on Bill Goldring. I remember watching Bill play basketball at Newman School in the early 1960s. His teammates were Allen Goodman (the Newman quarterback), Dick Buckman, Coleman Adler, Bobby Mimileo and Charles Wolchansky – a basketball team made up of Jewish boys, you’ll never see that again. The coach was Ed “Sheets” Tusky. His son and daughter in law live in Memphis. I wonder what they’re doing in Memphis?

Lee Bergman
New Iberia

Ed. Reply: We always assume that anyone living in Memphis is wishing they we’re in New Orleans.


NAMING THE TEAM

Re: “What to Call the Hornets.” Speaking Out column. June 2012 issue.

I got my June copy in the mail yesterday. Love it as usual. The NOLA Hornets article caught my attention right away because since the team moved to NOLA from Charlotte I’ve thought about the team name. My idea for a change dates back to the 2002 Winter Olympics. Back in ’02 I was director of the New Orleans Customs and Border Protection (CBP) lab in the Customhouse on Canal Street. (That was my first career.) I had the opportunity to be the mobile laboratory director for CBP at the ’02 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. While there I noticed the Utah Highway signs had an unusual symbol on them. When I asked a local official what the symbol was I learned it was a beehive. Apparently, bees have a special place in Utah history. When the NBA Hornets moved to NOLA the first thought I had was, “Why don’t the New Orleans Hornets and the Utah Jazz (once our hometown team) simply switch names?”

Robert Zimmerman
Lake Ridge, VA

Ed. Reply:  Sounds good to us, though we’re not sure if the NBA would allow it – too much in brand name royalties on the line.
 

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