Mardi Gras

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The Last Forgeron

Originally published by Cultured Oak Press, June 17, 2018. Who created the wonderfully detailed iron balconies in New Orleans? In 1920, the last in a line of French Quarter forgerons put down his hammer. M. Charles Antoine Mangin, Jr., a Creole and fifth-generation iron monger, decided to retire because he could no longer find workers interested in learning this art. Each piece that came from his shop was unique and original. On June 6 that year, Times Picayune reporter Marguerite...

That Heathen Crowd at the Green Shutter

Originally published in the French Quarter Journal, July 30, 2019. In the Roaring 20s, feisty Uptown socialite Martha Westfeldt opens a French Quarter bookstore that becomes Bohemia Central. From time to time, a shop opens in the French Quarter that becomes a nexus for creative minds. The shop is sometimes a restaurant or a gallery or book store that brings together New Orleanians of diverse talent. But it is always driven by an original and congenial personality. During Prohibition, one...