Photo by Charlie London

Al Kramer shares his friend’s winning entry from the recent Denver Post contest: Greg Lee, winner of The Denver Post’s $25 Haiku contest this week, wrote this on the topic of ‘Mardi Gras’:

Parades in the streets
Newly christened Dat Tuesday
Always “les bon temps”

Tommy Lewis was so excited about tonight’s fish fry at Our Lady of the
Holy Rosary that he went over to Terranova’s last night and picked up
some redfish.

The picture you see above is not from one of New Orleans’ many fine
restaurants but from Tommy’s kitchen. Looks like he did a great job!

What’s going on in your life? Send your pictures and stories to info@fsjna.org

Jim Danner and his family wish everyone a Happy Mardi Gras!

We left home around 3 pm and returned at 11 pm. What took us 8 hours you can watch in just over 8 minutes. It was the largest turnout I’ve ever seen for a parade. It looked like a million people were on the parade route!
Video by Charlie London. Music by Dr. John

Richard and Anne Sobol at the 2008 Voodoo on the Bayou.
Photo by Charlie London

The article below about RICHARD SOBOL
was submitted by Anne Sobol.

Richard came to N.O. as a volunteer lawyer in the summer of 1965 working for the Lawyers Constitutional Defense Committee (LCDC), an organization formed to provide legal assistance to activists in the southern civil rights movement . At the time, he worked for one of the most prestigious law firms in Washington, D.C. He was so swept up in the work in Louisiana that he quit his job and came to New Orleans to live and work for LCDC.

Richard’s time in N.O. falls into three periods: (1) 1965-1968; (2) 1970- 1974; and (3) 1991- the present. In the first period, Richard handled some of the most important civil rights cases in Louisiana history: the desegregation of many of the Parish school systems State-wide; the first class action under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act challenging discrimination in the Crown Zellerbach paper mill in Bogalusa (and many other Title VII cases); defense of Gary Duncan in the case that became Duncan v. La., a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the U.S., that established that the guarantee of trial by jury of the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution applies to state as well as federal prosecutions and that citizens are guaranteed a jury trial in state courts; his representation of Duncan resulted in Richard’s arrest by Leander Perez for practicing without a license, and Sobol v. Perez in federal court highlighted the need for outside lawyers to help with civil rights issues (the federal court ruled that Richard was practicing legally because he was in the State temporarily and acting in association with local counsel) and numerous other cases involving all aspects of civil rights law. In 1968, Richard left Louisiana.

In the second period, in 1970 Richard came back to La., was admitted to the bar, and was a member of one of the first and then few law firms with both black and white lawyers, Elie, Sobol, Strickler and Dennis (1110 Royal St.) During this time, Richard and his firm handled numerous civil rights cases, mostly employment discrimination, and also the defense of 21 women charged in federal court with welfare fraud. This last case, before it was resolved, involved a challenge to the manner in which grand juries were selected as underrepresenting poor and black people and a challenge to the prosecution’s use of its peremptory challenges to strike potential black jurors — at the time landmark efforts. At the time, a woman and three children in Louisiana received $142 per month in the AFDC program. In 1974, Richard moved back to Washington, where his children lived, but he continued to handle many large, long-running cases in Louisiana.

In the third period, in 1991 Richard came back to Louisiana and settled on Bayou Liberty. His wife Anne (me) opened a small law firm and represented the federal banking agencies in resolving bank and thrift failures in cases in Louisiana and around the country. Richard participated in some of the banking cases and continued to be involved in various civil rights matters. In 2003, after surviving floods following numerous rain and tropical storms, each succeeding storm threatening our home more, Richard and I sold our beautiful home on the Bayou, and moved into New Orleans. Several years ago, we both retired

Article by Anne Sobol

Nelson Savoie is known throughout the neighborhood for his annual fundraiser for N.O.P.D.’s 1st District. Many of you may also know that Nelson has been a serious Saints fan for over 40 years. Click on the arrow above to see the parade to honor the late Buddy Diliberto, local broadcaster and serious Saints fan.

Don’t be surprised if you walk down the 3000 block of Esplanade and hear “Who Dat” from above. It’s not a proclamation from heaven, just Nelson hollering from his porch. Nelson has been known to holler “Who Dat” to his neighbors as they arrive home.

The tip on this “Celebrate Your Life” story was provided by Warren Guidry. See Warren’s note below:

Good article on the parade honoring sportscaster Buddy D., who before he died, said if the Saints ever made it to the SuperBowl, he would walk down Bourbon St. in a Dress. To honor his promise, current sportscaster and former Saints quarterback Bobby Hebert, organized a parade in Buddy D.’s honor, inviting all to participate. 80,000 people showed up for this event.

It was a blast to watch this celebration.