Tag Archives: cajun
TOUR OF DUTY: A son retraces a World War II soldier’s path through Europe. His discovery? What matters most is not where you go, but what you leave behind.
Dad loved his work, never complaining about the six days he had to toil every week to keep his small grocery business afloat. He loved to cook — and he was good at it, like so many Cajun men of his generation. He loved the church, taking us to 11 a.m. Mass at St. Gregory […]
TWO FAMILIES, ONE HOME: An unexpected reunion, 250 years in the making
POPLAR GROVE, NOVA SCOTIA, CANADA — It was approaching 9:30 in the morning, and Sara Beanlands was making her way toward the family farm. Like generations of her mother’s family before her, Sara had traveled this road all her life, but on this occasion the 32-year-old graduate student drove more slowly than usual. She hardly […]
HOME GROWN: From a cozy Cajun kitchen, Linda Ronstadt and Ann Savoy reach for Grammy gold
It started in the kitchen, like so many good things do in Louisiana. There might have been biscuits in the oven, or gumbo on the stove, or a pot of coffee or tea on the countertop. Children would float in and out, or a telephone might ring, but that was OK. This was informal, natural, […]
STILL IN ROTATION: “The Big Easy” soundtrack
[Guest post on California-based blog Midlife Mixtape (“For the years between being hip and breaking one”), March 4, 2014.] Still in Rotation is a feature that lets talented writers tell Midlife Mixtape readers about an album they discovered years ago that’s still in heavy rotation, and why it has such staying power. Ron Thibodeaux has been one […]
THE FIDDLER’S FAREWELL: David Greely prepares to bid The Mamou Playboys adieu
Imagine going to a Rolling Stones show, making your way to the stage and ordering up your favorite tune from “Exile on Main Street.” Good luck with that; Mick and the boys aren’t exactly in the habit of taking requests. It’s different with Cajun music. The two-step and the waltz are cornerstones of the Cajun […]
BOOK REVIEW, “BAYOU FAREWELL”: Louisiana coastal wetlands’ disappearing act
When a writer from back East prepared to board a small plane in Houma to get a bird’s-eye view of the marshes and barrier islands of Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes, his guide told pilot Bruce Stamey that he intended to write a book on Louisiana’s coastal land loss. “You better hurry!” the pilot warned him. […]
BOOK REVIEW, “‘ACCORDIONS, FIDDLES, TWO STEP & SWING”: Behind the Musique
Cajun music used to be one of the great hidden treasures of Louisiana. As a linchpin of the state’s once-isolated Acadian culture, it was relegated to house parties and dance halls for local enjoyment but virtually unknown to the outside world. Modernization finally caught up with south Louisiana after World War II, but it threatened […]
BOOK REVIEW, “A GREAT AND NOBLE SCHEME”: Vive l’Acadie
For devotees of Cajun culture, books on the tragic and controversial Acadian deportation are like hot sauce. You can go almost anywhere in Louisiana and find beaucoup varieties on the shelves, but most of them just aren’t very good. Some are lackluster, adding nothing to what’s already on the plate. Others are too hot, so […]
RON THIBODEAUX 