Nawlins…The Big Easy

I just returned from New Orleans, and this third time was truly a charm. Not that I didn’t enjoy my first two visits, because I did. But this time, I learned so much. In addition to a truly enlightening Ghost Tour, where I listened to some fascinating history that I hadn’t heard on my previous Ghost Tour, we also went to several museums, including the VooDoo museum. The biggest plus for this journey was getting to spend time with good friends and enjoy wonderful food. Our hosts were both gracious and delightful to spend time with.

The very first time I visited New Orleans was as a youngster during Spring Break. Being a stupid college student, we blew through and hung out on Bourbon Street. Drank too much and listened to music. We didn’t even try the wonderful food, other than crawfish, which I vaguely remember (I can’t even be sure we ate them in New Orleans versus somewhere in Louisiana), only because we were encouraged to suck the heads. And, we stupidly parked where we weren’t supposed to and had our car towed. The second time, I went with my wife to the GCLS conference in 2015. It was my very first GCLS conference, and we had a blast. Had lots of great food, including stuffing myself with beignets. We also went on our very first Ghost Tour, but while there was a rich history described in the tour, it was all about ghosts, and I certainly do not recall learning about Voodoo, other than the stuff that feeds the myths. So what interesting things did I learn this time around? Here are my top three:

Many historians believe New Orleans, not Chicago or New York, was the birthplace of the Italian Mafia. New Orleans received the largest number of Italian immigrants from Sicily after the large exodus because Sicilians wanted their own nation after merging and becoming unified in 1861. The first Mafia war occurred in 1869 after a very bloody affair with a whole lot of people getting “whacked”. The original Godfather was killed on April 1st by a very nasty rival who had established a political group called the Innocenti with ties to many New Orleans residents. Unfortunately, the New Orleans residents grew tired of their new neighbors and hired a new police chief to clean things up. When he was shot and killed, a mob formed. A large number of Italians (over 250), many innocent, were rounded up, and nineteen were charged. None received a guilty verdict, so the mob took it upon themselves to take the law into their own hands and hung eleven of them. Eight managed to escape. As is often the horror of human nature, this was entertainment for the residents of New Orleans. And that is why the Italian sandwich Muffaletta is so popular in New Orleans. Invented in the early 1900s to cater to the Italian immigrants.The Voodoo doll was not intended as a tool for evil. That is a myth. Originally, the doll was used as a kind of medical record by healing practitioners. They would stick pins in a doll with a likeness of their patient to record where the ailment or injury was on the body, using different color pins for different ailments. In this manner, they could recall what had occurred with their patient. Voodoo is a religion, not some evil practice designed to curse one’s enemies. The religion first came to New Orleans when enslaved West Africans merged their beliefs, rituals, and practices with the Catholic religion. A richness was later added when Haitian immigrants moved to New Orleans after the slave revolt in 1791, and Voodoo Kings and Queens were born. The original Haitian name was Vodou, which means spirit or god. The basic belief is that spirits exist throughout the natural world and among the living. These spirits, or loa, act as intermediaries between humans and the supreme god.

New Orleans holds a special place for me as a writer because that was where I traveled for my very first GCLS conference. The richness of the history, just adds a whole other level of special. I might have to set a book in New Orleans because the history is so fascinating. I was also reminded of how many times I’ve used my friend’s name (the one who lives in New Orleans now) in my Asset Management series. Her name, as well as the restaurant she co-owned in Washington State, show up in multiple books. She’s like a little kid when she lights up to see her name and sushi restaurant in print. It’s so delightful to see. Want to read about Kimiko and Sushi Zen, you know the drill, just click the links below.