Keith Marshall

How's Bayou? Of Birdfoot and roast pig

Birdfoot Festival dinner concert in Madewood's ballroom

There are times you know you've done something good. Because Madewood is like a huge ante-bellum vacuum cleaner (yes, they had them back then, powered by the push of a human hand), sucking up every dollar I can [...]

How's Bayou? With your paid subscription ...

Our stash of vintage TP doggie bags

  It was almost 40 years ago that freebies entered the world of New Orleans commerce. For the first time, you could get a small appliance for opening an account at the newly-minted International City Bank (ICB), housed [...]

How's Bayou? The Picture of Miss Ball

Portrait of a red-head by Taos artist Nicolai Fechi

This is the story of a portrait that had a much happier ending than Dorian Gray's. It all begins with an interview, "Astrologer Leaves Reporter with Stars in Her Eyes," published on March 6, 1971, in The Times-Picayune, [...]

How's Bayou? Taaka & Toilet Tattoos

'The Bold Look,'  bayou style

We called it The Frat Trifecta, The Triple Crown Royal. We'd signed Madewood up for three fraternity parties in two weeks. Were we crazy, or just willing to do anything to pay the bills? Madewood had hosted the [...]

How's Bayou? Ghosts of classrooms past

The author (top right) and Little Ricky (bottom left) in second grade

  It's not that I'm so good. I just know that eventually I'd get caught. The past can get you in hot water, as actor Owen Wilson found out when paraphrasing William Faulkner in the 2012 film, Midnight [...]

How's Bayou?: Newly Minted

The sophisticated atmosphere at Dominique's on Magazine

We planned a casual repast, three friends, former colleagues at The Times-Picayune, getting together to ponder the future of online journalism. The most au courant of the group suggested the recently-opened Dominique's on Magazine, the newest incarnation of [...]