Bayou Farewell

Bayou Farewell
Author: Mike Tidwell
Publisher: Vintage
Total Pages: 306
Release: 2007-12-18
Genre: Travel
ISBN: 0307424928

The Cajun coast of Louisiana is home to a way of life as unique, complex, and beautiful as the terrain itself. As award-winning travel writer Mike Tidwell journeys through the bayou, he introduces us to the food and the language, the shrimp fisherman, the Houma Indians, and the rich cultural history that makes it unlike any other place in the world. But seeing the skeletons of oak trees killed by the salinity of the groundwater, and whole cemeteries sinking into swampland and out of sight, Tidwell also explains why each introduction may be a farewell—as the storied Louisiana coast steadily erodes into the Gulf of Mexico. Part travelogue, part environmental exposé, Bayou Farewell is the richly evocative chronicle of the author's travels through a world that is vanishing before our eyes.

Acadian to Cajun

Acadian to Cajun
Author: Carl A. Brasseaux
Publisher: Jackson : University Press of Mississippi
Total Pages: 292
Release: 1992
Genre: History
ISBN:

A study of unusual documentary resources that disclose the processes of cultural evolution that transformed the Acadians of early Louisiana into the Cajuns of today.

Cajun Persuasion

Cajun Persuasion
Author: Sandra Hill
Publisher: HarperCollins
Total Pages: 300
Release: 2018-06-26
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0062566407

A woman planning to become a nun is swept into a rescue mission—and hot affair—with a sexy pilot in this romantic comedy from a New York Times bestseller. Alaskan pilot Aaron LeDeux came to Louisiana with his brother to discover his Cajun roots. But any hopes he had of returning home are extinguished when he agrees to help a crew of street monks and nuns rescue sex-trafficked girls. For the work has become his new calling. Plus, he’s in love with a gorgeous almost-nun named Fleur . . . With her harrowing past, Fleur Gaudet only feels safe at the nunnery. But when she’s ordered out into the real world to decide where she truly belongs, Fleur goes to live with the notorious Tante Lulu, matriarch of the LeDeux clan. Suddenly, she’s leading a regular life, thinking irregular thoughts about Aaron. With his whiskey-colored eyes and fierce bravery, Aaron is like her own personal Cajun cowboy, re-introducing her to . . . everything. As the dangerous missions bring them closer, Fleur must decide if her heart is truly on the path she’s been following, or if she’ll have a new future with the man of her heart.

Through the Eye of the Deer

Through the Eye of the Deer
Author: Carolyn Dunn Anderson
Publisher: San Francisco : Aunt Lute Books
Total Pages: 268
Release: 1999
Genre: Fiction
ISBN:

Poetry. Fiction. Native American Studies. By bringing together the voices of Native American women writers across time, regions, and tribes, this collection makes visible a dynamic tradition of women's wisdom and storytelling. From early legends to present-day fiction and poetry, this tradition emphasizes women's spiritual connection to the natural world and their contributions to tribal and familial community. Central to women's strength is the role of animal figures--Coyote, Owl, Beaver and Bear--who act as guides, helpers, and personal totems, appearing unexpectedly in the modern urban landscape as well as being a constant presence in nature. The work of more than forty authors appears in this volume, representing tribes and regions extending over most of the U.S. and parts of Canada. Among the authors included are Louise Erdrich, Joy Harjo, Leslie Marmon Silko, Paula Gunn Allen, Linda Hogan and Beth Brant, along with writers whose work appears here for the first time. "THROUGH THE EYE OF THE DEER is far more than a wonderful book to read: it is a guidebook to life in the multiple world we really live in. It tells us of the many places the path of the sacred takes us, how to act when we get there, the dangers we will encounter, and how to get home."--Paula Gunn Allen

Asian-Cajun Fusion

Asian-Cajun Fusion
Author: Carl A. Brasseaux
Publisher: Univ. Press of Mississippi
Total Pages: 368
Release: 2022-03-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 1496838254

Shrimp is easily America’s favorite seafood, but its very popularity is the wellspring of problems that threaten the shrimp industry’s existence. Asian-Cajun Fusion: Shrimp from the Bay to the Bayou provides insightful analysis of this paradox and a detailed, thorough history of the industry in Louisiana. Dried shrimp technology was part of the cultural heritage Pearl River Chinese immigrants introduced into the Americas in the mid-nineteenth century. As early as 1870, Chinese natives built shrimp-drying operations in Louisiana’s wetlands and exported the product to Asia through the port of San Francisco. This trade internationalized the shrimp industry. About three years before Louisiana’s Chinese community began their export endeavors, manufactured ice became available in New Orleans, and the Dunbar family introduced patented canning technology. The convergence of these ancient and modern technologies shaped the evolution of the northern Gulf Coast’s shrimp industry to the present. Coastal Louisiana’s historic connection to the Pacific Rim endures. Not only does the region continue to export dried shrimp to Asian markets domestically and internationally, but since 2000 the region’s large Vietnamese immigrant population has increasingly dominated Louisiana’s fresh shrimp harvest. Louisiana shrimp constitute the American gold standard of raw seafood excellence. Yet, in the second decade of the twenty-first century, cheap imports are forcing the nation’s domestic shrimp industry to rediscover its economic roots. “Fresh off the boat” signs and real-time internet connections with active trawlers are reestablishing the industry’s ties to local consumers. Direct marketing has opened the industry to middle-class customers who meet the boats at the docks. This “right off the boat” paradigm appears to be leading the way to reestablishment of sustainable aquatic resources. All-one-can-eat shrimp buffets are not going to disappear, but the Louisiana shrimp industry’s fate will ultimately be determined by discerning consumers’ palates.

Poor Man's Provence

Poor Man's Provence
Author: Rheta Grimsley Johnson
Publisher: NewSouth Books
Total Pages: 226
Release: 2008-09-01
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1603060596

For over a decade, syndicated columnist Rheta Grimsley Johnson has been spending several months a year in Southwest Louisiana, deep in the heart of Cajun Country. Unlike many other writers who have parachuted into the swampy paradise for a few days or weeks, Rheta fell in love with the place, bought a second home and set in planting doomed azaleas and deep roots. She has found an assortment of beautiful people in a homely little town called Henderson, right on the edge of the Atchafalaya Swamp. These days, much is labeled Cajun that is not, and the popularity of the unique culture’s food, songs and dance has been a mixed blessing. The revival of French Louisiana’s traditional music and cuisine often has been cheapened by counterfeits. Confused pilgrims sometimes look to New Orleans for a sampler platter of all things Cajun. Close, but no cigar. Poor Man’s Provence helps define what’s what through lively characters and stories. The book is both personal odyssey and good reporting, travelogue and memoir, funny and frank. This beguiling place is as exotic as it gets without a passport. The author shares what keeps her coming home to French Louisiana. And as NPR commentator Bailey White observes in her foreword, "Both Rheta's readers and the people she writes about will be comfortable, well fed, highly entertained, and happy they came to Poor Man's Provence."

The Legend of Papa Noel

The Legend of Papa Noel
Author: Terri Hoover Dunham
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Total Pages: 36
Release: 2013-09-01
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1627535985

Around the world Santa Claus has many names. But in a deep, swampy bayou of Louisiana, he's known as Papa Noël. In such a hot and humid place, there can be no sleds or reindeer, so Papa Noël rides the river in a boat that's pulled by eight alligators, with a snowy white one named Nicollette in the lead. On this particular Christmas Eve, it's so foggy on the river that even Nicollette's magical glowing-green eyes may not be enough to guide Papa Noël. The alligators are tired, grumpy and bruised from banging into cypress trees, and Papa is desperate to get all the gifts to the little children. Well, "quicker than a snake shimmies down the river," the clever Cajun people come up with a solution that saves the day. A colorfully inventive Christmas tale, Papa Noël is a lesson in fast thinking, as well as a witty introduction to a part of America that's rich in folklore and legend.

Under the Bayou Moon

Under the Bayou Moon
Author: Valerie Fraser Luesse
Publisher: Revell
Total Pages: 310
Release: 2021-08-03
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1493430424

Restless with the familiarity of her Alabama home, Ellie Fields accepts a teaching job in a tiny Louisiana town deep in bayou country. Though rightfully suspicious of outsiders, who have threatened both their language and their culture, most of the people in tiny Bernadette, Louisiana, come to appreciate the young and idealistic schoolteacher as a boon to the town. She's soon teaching just about everyone--and coming up against opposition from both the school board and a politician with ulterior motives. Acclimating to a whole new world, Ellie meets a lonely but intriguing Cajun fisherman named Raphe who introduces her to the legendary white alligator that haunts these waters. Raphe and Ellie have barely found their way to each other when a huge bounty is offered for the elusive gator, bringing about a shocking turn of events that will test their love and their will to right a terrible wrong. A master of the Southern novel, Valerie Fraser Luesse invites you to enter the sultry swamps of Louisiana in a story that illuminates the struggle for the heart and soul of the bayou.

Cajun Justice

Cajun Justice
Author: James Patterson
Publisher: Hachette UK
Total Pages: 432
Release: 2020-07-14
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1538752387

This explosive standalone thriller from the world's #1 bestselling author follows ex-Secret Service agent Cain Lemaire as he uncovers dark secrets hidden beneath the Tokyo streets. The Bayou is a unique place to live and it provides a grit and passion to any who hail from it, including Cain Lemaire, an ex-Secret Service agent from New Orleans. Cain had the dream job he had always wanted, protecting the President, until a single night resulted in a scandal that lost him his post. Needing a new direction for his life and with help from his sister who works in Japan, Cain takes a job in Tokyo as head of security detail for a very successful and important CEO. What he thought was a simple security post unravels a tangled web of corruption, greed, and extortion, but now Cain is on his own and without the wealth of resources he had with the Secret Service. Years of training and international missions kick in as he races to find justice that only way a born and raised Cajun can do.

Born on the Bayou

Born on the Bayou
Author: Blaine Lourd
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 224
Release: 2015-08-18
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1476773874

In the tradition of the modern classics The Tender Bar and The Liars’ Club, Blaine Lourd writes a powerful Gothic memoir set in the bayous and oil towns of 1970s Louisiana. In this rags-to-riches memoir of finding your way and becoming a man, Blaine Lourd renders his childhood in rural Louisiana­ with his larger-than-life father, Harvey “Puffer” Lourd, Jr., a charismatic salesman during the exploding 1980s awl bidness. From cleaning a duck to drinking a beer, Puffer guides Blaine through the twists and turns of growing up, ultimately pointing him to a poignant truth: sometimes those you love the most can inflict the most pain. Set against a lush landscape of magnolia trees and majestic old homes, haunted swamps and swimming holes filled with wildlife, Lourd gets to the heart of being a Southerner with rawness and grace, beautifully detailing what it means to have a place so ingrained in your being. Just as the timeless memoirs All Over but the Shoutin’ and The Liar’s Club evoke the muggy air of a Southern summer and barrels of steaming crawfish, so does Blaine’s contemporary exploration of what it means to find yourself among the bayous and back roads. Charting his journey from his rural home to working the star-studded streets of Los Angeles as a financial advisor to the rich and famous, Blaine’s story is about the complicated path to success and identity. With witty grace and candid prose, he pays homage to family bonds, unwavering loyalty, and deep roots that cannot be severed, no matter how hard you try.