“Reese always writes exceptionally well, but his most salient work deals with Louisiana culture... And that’s what you’ll find in this anthology: insightful articles that revel in the Bayou State’s rich culure.” — Shane K. Bernard, author and historian
R. Reese Fuller, author of the new nonfiction collection, Angola to Zydeco: Louisiana Lives, will sign copies of the book Thursday night at Saint Street Inn. The former journalist — Reese was a senior writer at The Times of Acadiana and managing editor at The Independent — leans on more than a decade of interviews with some of the most colorful characters and prominent figures in contemporary Louisiana, turning a trained eye and a sharp wit on the idiosyncratic personalities that make the Bayou State such a rich reward for cultural writers.
Angola to Zydeco largely comprises previously published stories, reworked into book form, detailing a varied collection of individuals including Buckwheat Zydeco, Calvin Borel, James Lee Burke, Elemore Morgan Jr. (one of Morgan’s acrylic paintings graces the book jacket) and Ernest Gaines.
The award-winning writer now teaches English and American history at Episcopal School of Acadiana and in his spare time operates Gumbo Radio, an online radio station devoted to Louisiana music. He’s also an all-around good guy, so go buy the book. He’ll sign it for you. It’s a book signing.
This is something of an Ind alumni party: The proprietors of Saint Street Inn are former staff members Mary Tutwiler and Nathan Stubbs. We’re proud of all of them.
The event runs from 6-8 p.m. Saint Street Inn is located at the corner of Brook and St. Mary streets across from Old Tyme Grocery.
David Calhoun and Elizabeth “EB” Brooks are the first two employees of Lafayette Central Park Inc., the nonprofit charged with turning Lafayette Consolidated Government’s 100-acre Johnston Street Horse Farm property into a passive public park. Calhoun was named executive director, and Brooks is director of planning and design.
There will soon be a whole lot of shakin’ going on at Benny’s Sportshack Supplement Depot, a new concept by Opelousas native Benny Nele. Located at 2002 Johnston St., the supplement shop, smoothie bar and café, featuring hot off the press paninis and wraps, plans to open in late May.
This year’s Cool Town issue is all about people who are not native to South Louisiana but made a conscious decision to be here, to be among us, to participate in our culture and contribute to it.
A shelved ordinance transferring $200,000 from a northside drainage project to a south Lafayette development may not break any laws, but it stinks to high heaven.
An effort to restore a shuttered dancehall and document other vacant or razed honky-tonks could serve as a model for saving an endangered species of entertainment.
Lafayette’s gene pool has been host to a long line of eccentric characters who have blurred the lines between crazy, genius, disturbed and curiously entertaining.
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