The Caress Scent City

I caught some of the ABC-TV report on pre-Super Bowl Saints fans and New Orleans food and culture. The Saints are in the Big Dance on the near-eve of Mardi Gras. Can you imagine! It made me miss the old city. There were the Orleanians in the streets of the city, cheering, laughing, dancing, jazz band playing, spicy, rich, food local cooking on the outdoor tables. "That's it," I said to meself, "that picture is the illustration of Louisiana being recently rated the happiest state in the nation and the most-unhealthy state in the nation."

Then my mind drifted back to my initial arrival in N.O. It was a few months after the assassination of President Kennedy. I obtained a part-time job at the International Trade Mart (now demolished), then owned and occupied by Clay Shaw, the businessman whom the N.O. District Attorney claimed was behind the assassination plot, and across the street from where Lee Harvey Oswald held a few of his small pro-Soviet rallies. My job in that building was as a telemarketer for "Time" and "Life" magazines. All of us in that office would use pseudonyms during our phone calls. I wanted something a little different, so I chose "Harvey." Big mistake.

New Orleans was (and is) an exciting and interesting city, especially for single people and those with some historical or artistic appreciation. I was fortunate to live for awhile in its beautiful Garden District. It was also a city where I was frequently drunk.