In our house in Eunice, Louisiana, in the 1960s and ’70s, bouillie au lait (milk custard) was a comfort food. We pronounced it “B-yo-ly,” and sometimes ate it for breakfast or as an after-school snack. In Momma’s childhood home in Ville Platte during the Great Depression, bouillie au lait was survival food. It was affordable for poor families like theirs because it required only three … Continue reading Great Depression Bouillie au Lait
This week I’m running this post about the game of Canasta once more (originally posted in May 2019). It’s a bit wonky to read but if you take it slow, you should be able to set up a rousing game for yourself and at least three others. Christmas break is the perfect time to unplug from our phones, tvs, and whatnots, and, you know, face … Continue reading Canasta’s Trip to the Bayou
Since it became available for pre-order, several people have purchased my upcoming book, “Stone Motel – Memoirs of a Cajun Boy” (expected delivery April 2020 from the University Press of Mississippi). To be quite uncharacteristically sincere about it, I am humbled and grateful, and more than a bit fixed in a state of suspended belief. Part of the writing experience necessarily includes the selling experience. … Continue reading Where to pre-order “Stone Motel”???
In April, when I converted my old newsletter (Parenthetically Speaking) into this blog, I announced that the University Press of Mississippi (UPM) will be publishing my memoir next year. At the time, the title of my book was “The Canasta Summers – Memoirs of a Cajun Boy.” This was the only title I’ve ever considered for this book because the story covers a period of … Continue reading How’s this for a book jacket blurb?
My memoir covers the late 1960s through mid-1970s and focuses on the siblings who are closest to my age: Gilda, Glenda, and Dickie, and me, of course (well, a memoir is like that). In between chores at our family’s motel, the four of us did a lot of game-playing, and for a few years, the most frequent pass-time was Canasta, a game of which could … Continue reading The People in the Book*
(Parenthetically) Speaking 