I was researching artists and writers who have lived and worked in New Orleans when I ran across this article and just love the description of the city. I wish I could write like this, t is just delicious writing..so much said so succinctly.
NEW ORLEANS — If cities were people, New Orleans would be the earthy and lovable old uncle who shows up drunk (and with a young thing at his side) at sedate family gatherings, all the while secretly reveling in his open defiance of polite society. It has had that attitude for centuries, way before its label "The City That Care Forgot" was mongrelized into the coarser sound bite of "The Big Easy."
Sprawled over both banks of a crescent formed by the Mississippi River Delta, New Orleans is really not North American at all. Its rhythms, smells, lusty ambience and complacency developed from a delicious mixture of French, Spanish, African, Creole and Cajun cultures spiced with the spirit of the American frontier. In its infancy, pirates, mercenaries, outcasts, drunks, religious fanatics, defrocked priests, gamblers and whores all found haven here and thrived in the warmth of its tolerance. To this day, the place reeks of hedonism, decadence and immorality--qualities long recognized as potent magnets for writers. By Sergio Ortiz of the Los Angeles Times
Writers like Faulkner, Whitman, and O'Henry to name a few, wrote about this wonderful magical city. It is a gritty earthy city, it is not an easy city in many ways. The crime rate is high and one must be aware of the neighborhood you are in. But it is bawdy, it talented, it is fun and it defies all rules that would restrict its freedom to celebrate. But as one of my friends said when I complained about the crime rate, yes it has always been that way, but that is what makes us unique!
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