Literary New Orleans

I first researched Louisiana history while doing genealogy on my family, which brought me into the historic cemeteries. I am the author of two books on New Orleans cemeteries, a subject about which I have curated several museum exhibits. I co-founded a preservation group which has restored several historic tombs, including the New Orleans Musicians Tomb, which offers free burial to musicians and which I administrate. After saving the inscription tablet from the Homer Plessy tomb (which I restored for the 100th anniversary of Plessy v. Ferguson), I, with Keith Plessy created a Plessy v. Ferguson exhibit in the Sala Capitular, the room in the Cabildo where the landmark case was first heard. I first interpreted the region's cultural history in an organized way as a Jean Lafitte National Park ranger and am currently completing a book on the Garden District. I am a produced playwright of works that deal with New Orleans true stories ranging from Civil War Captain Andre Cailloux to Ernie K-Doe to Hurricane Katrina. I was the Dramatists Guild's first Gulf Coast Regional Representative and have taught playwriting at Tulane University and the University of New Orleans. My documentary ZACK AND ADDIE won honors worldwide and I am currently working on a film about Cosimo Matassa's recording studios. I have produced many markers for historic buildings and tombs, starting with Danny Barker's birthplace, and I was also an honorary pallbearer at both Blue Lu and Danny Barker's funerals. - Named first Gulf Coast regional representative by the Dramatists Guild PUBLISHED PLAYS: Katrina's Path, Original Works Publishing (1st Hurricane Katrina play to be published) Katrina added to the Lincoln Center Library collection The Monologue Project published online Katrina, Samuel French PUBLISHED BOOKS: - City of the Dead: St. Louis Cemetery #1, Center for Louisiana Studies, 1996 New Orleans Cemeteries: Life in the Cities of the Dead, Batture Press, 1997 - "The World that Made Antoinette K-Doe," (essay) published in WALKING RADDY (University Press of Mississippi), 2018 GRANTS: National Endowment for the Arts - for "Holy Wars" New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation - for "Holy Wars" DOCUMENTARY FILM: ZACK AND ADDIE premiered at the St. Tropez International Film Festival where it was nominated in three categories: •Best Feature Documentary •Best Producer of a Documentary Feature •Best Director of a Documentary Feature Rob Florence won Best Director None