We have wondered this about warts, colds and crabgrass and now each time a hurricane enters the Gulf of Mexico we ask the same about the storms, “why can’t they make them go away?” In fact, “they” have tried.…
This being the week of the Major League All-Star game brings to mind one of those moments when baseball worked its magic. It happened during a Zephyrs’ game (back when the team was still called by that name) several…
In this the week of our nation’s annual celebration of independence from England I am feeling sorry for the mother country. England’s historic greatness cannot be denied but the country is now at war with itself over the Brexit…
If you’re nostalgic about these kinds of things keep your editions of The Times-Picayune this week, or at least save next Sunday’s copy because that will be the last edition of the newspaper printed in the Newhouse era. Beginning…
There were two revealing news stories about Carnival coming out of Jefferson Parish last week. One came from a report in The Times-Picayune based on a public records request. The report gave results of the Mike Yenni administration’s review…
Seldom has a non-event provided so many examples of what not to do. There were plenty reasons for the Krewe of Nyx’s proposal to stage a summer parade in July to be dismissed. LaToya Cantrell did the right thing…
Last week, the Krewe of Nyx announced that it would break Carnival tradition by staging a summer version of its parade to be held in July in addition to its regular Carnival season march. This was supposed to be…
On a weekday afternoon in June 2012 Allen Toussaint drove his vintage Cadillac into the parking lot at Rock and Bowl on South Carrollton Avenue where anxious fans escorted him to a keyboard placed on a makeshift stage. Toussaint…
In this the year’s biggest month of music here’s my list of "Five Top Live Music Peeves." Just to be dramatic, they're listed in ascending order from five to number one. 5. Performers who introduce one of their standards by…
I once had a conversation with Tom Benson about the neighborhood where he grew up. His parish church was Our Lady Star of the Sea located on St. Roch Street, not far from St. Claude Avenue, in Bywater. Benson…
Last week the team formerly known as the New Orleans Zephyrs but now called the Baby Cakes opened what will likely be its final season here. The franchise, so it has been announced, will be moving to Wichita, Kansas where…
Legends of Dakin Williams
Random Thoughts About Carnival 2019
From the first St. Joseph’s Day altar I ever attended, as a kid, I recall an elderly Sicilian lady who explained why she built an altar. One night, she said, she saw a small apparition of Saint Joseph who…
The Plane Truth
I once worked in an office where on the day after Mardi Gras I noticed the two girls at the front desk each had ashen crosses on their forehead. At first I thought it was touching that they had gone…
Tough Stands On Public Issues
Moon Pies were not invented in New Orleans, but they should have been. The confection has a New Orleans quality to it – decadent and excessive. Because they are factory wrapped in cellophane the marshmallow sandwiches are legal to toss from carnival…
Feb. 13, 1872 – New Orleans For George Armstrong Custer the occasion of the first Rex parade on Feb. 13, 1872 was one of the few marches in his life in which he was a spectator and not a…
There are more connections then you might think
Everything else you've heard is wrong
Try not to think about it too much. What happened to the Saints was unfair. There are some people in this world who are occasionally blind to pass interference. But if we must think back about the game we…
I once had a conversation with a man who was an official of the Knights of Hermes. He was effusive about the group’s upcoming parade. “It will be the most beautiful ever,” he exclaimed. He also mentioned the parade’s…
This year marks the 40th anniversary of a season in which Carnival helped save the city from outside forces and general greed. What happened that year, 1979, was way beyond street level frivolity but a gritty example of civic…
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.
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