Book review: 'Getting Off At Elysian Fields'

Published on: January 21st, 2016

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Author John Pope
Author John Pope

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St. Louis Cemetery #1 [Photo by Tim Wilson]
St. Louis Cemetery #1 [Photo by Tim Wilson]
by Nita Ketner

Obituary writers have long been the Rodney Dangerfield of journalism: They get no respect. As longtime New York Times editor Margalit Fox told a Paris Review reporter, “The child has not yet been born that comes home from school clutching a composition book that says, ‘When I grow up I want to be an obituary writer.’” Often assigned to break cub journalists into the grind of daily newswriting – or as a sort of punishment to more experienced reporters – there is a misguided notion that obit writing is so easy that anyone can do it.

Twentieth century journalists have lifted obituary writing from the cheerless exercise of providing the basic statistics of date and place of birth, age and cause of death into the art form of writing compelling true stories of lives fully spent.

Former Times-Picayune obit writer John Pope offers a collection of more than 100 of his favorite valedictions in his new book, “Getting Off at Elysian Fields.” This cross-section of New Orleans death notices demonstrates how philanthropists, politicians, largely anonymous “famous in the neighborhood” types, limelight-shunning activists and flamboyant characters are each a part of the sum that is the City That Care Forgot.

The book includes many people whose surnames long-time New Orleanians will be familiar with: Stern, Ocshner, Bultman, Schwegmann, Schiro, Keller, Newhouse, McIlhenny. These names loomed large in 20th century New Orleans and remain ubiquitous in modern city lore. Theirs were among the longest obituaries, filled with details about the person’s life, including anecdotes from family, friends and colleagues. This may create the impression that these lives were somehow more important than those of ordinary citizens but, to be fair, older society types (and celebrities) often have the benefit of an “advance” obituary, allowing the reporter plenty of time to collect information well before it needs to be published. It is interesting to note that many movers and shakers chronicled here were born elsewhere. It remains to be seen if 21st century transplants have as much to bring to the civic table and if their good works, too, will endure far beyond their lifetimes. We should hope.

You don’t have to be a long-time resident, however, to know that it is the everyday characters that give New Orleans her charm, and legions of unusual people have called this place home. One might have gotten drunk in the venerable 9th Ward barroom known as Bud Rip’s, but what do we really know about Edward “Bud Rip” Ripoll? The same can be said about Ruth Grace Moulon, aka “Miss Ruthie the Duck Girl,” who became a poster child for French Quarter eccentricity. Second line aficionados of a certain age might remember the unassuming Jules Cahn snapping photos, but few knew he owned half the French Quarter. Folks with nicknames like “Black Cat” and “Moo Moo” and “Pie” fade into the sunset of time though they seemed unforgettable while they still walked the earth. It’s a shame these citizens weren’t afforded the same treatment as the Rex crowd. Certainly their lives were at least as fascinating – if not more so – as their better-off counterparts.

Perhaps the most interesting obituaries are those of unsung heroes who quietly made a difference: Women like Mercedes Tucker Stamps, who for four decades was a public school band director that taught some of our city’s most beloved names in music. Men like early AIDS activists John Ognibene, William “Buzzy” Fanning, and Ted Wisniewski. Quiet but courageous civil rights leaders such as longtime Dillard University president Albert Dent; federal desegregationist judge J. Skelly Wright; and Charles J. Hatfield, who helped create the Southern University Law Center when Louisiana law prohibited black men from studying it.

If the reader wonders why musicians and Mardi Gras Indians are under-represented, it is because the book features only those obituaries that were written by Pope. Musician and Indian obituaries were mostly assigned to the music editors or to freelance writers with intimate knowledge of the deceased or their particular community.

Whether you are notorious mobster Carlos Marcello or revered Judge Revius Ortique, Jr., poboy shop owner Dorothy “Miss Dot” Domilise or fast food mogul Al Copeland, no one lives forever. But as “Getting Off at Elysian Fields” proves, in the hands of a capable obituary writer, the memory of us might.

 

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