THE KINGFISH LIVES AGAIN AT THE ROOSEVELT HOTEL!
I ;promised you some Huey P. Long stuff. Let’s start with the Roosevelt Hotel in the Crescent City. They have a one-man play that got a great review in NOLA. (It runs only through this coming weekend! I’d go if I were closer to NO!) Long practically lived in the Roosevelt when he was in town so it is great history to have this performance there.
I admired and still to some extent admire Huey P. Long. He was a boyhood hero of mine based laregly on T. Harry Williams’ historical treatise. One of the great spiritual events of my life was as a high school senior I heard a sermon (In Ohio, not Louisiana) where the pastor told a story I could not historically verify (but that was not important) that someone tried to witness to Long and finally got a few seconds with the former governor, now a United States Senator. The Kingfish waved him off with, “I don’t have time for Jesus Christ.” He turned the corner and was shot by Carl Weiss. That was part of getting me more serious about Jesus and His Word with daily devotions.
But there is much to admire about Long. As Williams stated, he was different from most of the prior governors who did little or nothing for the people. John W. Parker tried to do some things and was partly successful from 1920 to 1924 but Long came in with issues like roads, free textbooks, natural gas for New Orleans and general improvement of the state.
Williams reported that Long had immense political talents and abilities. A virtually photographic memory and a uncanny ability to relate to others, especially from other ethnic groups (He’d call up say a Lebanese leader and invite himself over for whatever their favorite food item was and come over. Long made a huge impression on many African-Americans of his time he knew personally for example.)
Long perhaps brought many good things to his state but he also brought some not so good things, too. To understand how radical Governor Jindal’s reforms were, the reader needs to understand Long. If any reader goes to the Kingfish at the Roosevelt this weekend, let me know how you liked it!
October 7th, 2009 at 9:48 pm
what evidence is there in Maya traditions for how they thought about it
October 8th, 2009 at 6:52 am
I’m not sure! But thanks for coming by and please come by again!
Sandy