Southeastern NEWS

                                                       Southeastern Louisiana University
                                           Public Information Office
                                           publicinfo@selu.edu
                                           SLU 10880, Hammond, LA 70402
                                           985/549-2341/fax 985-549-2061
    Date: 3/7/02
      Contact:                           Christina Chapple 

SLU DUO TO LEAD PUBLIC DISCUSSION GROUP AT COVINGTON PARISH
LIBRARY
     HAMMOND -- Southeastern Louisiana University English professor Richard Louth and
Charles Elliott, assistant director of the university's Center for Southeast Louisiana Studies, will
lead a six-week series of readings and discussions about five noteworthy Louisiana lives that are
part of the state's historical heritage.
     The program, entitled "Louisiana Characters: Biographies of the Bayou State," will be
held at the St. Tammany Parish Library, 310 West 21st Ave., Covington, on Wednesdays, 7 - 9
p.m., beginning March 20 and ending April 24.
     The six-week reading and discussion program, which is free and open to the  public, is
funded by the State of Louisiana and sponsored by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities
and the Louisiana Library Association. Those interested in attending are encouraged to register in
advance at the library.  The phone number is 985-893-6282.
     Louth, director of the Southeastern Louisiana Writing Project, holds Southeastern's
Distinguished Teaching Professorship in the Humanities and was the 2001 recipient of the
university's prestigious President's Award for Excellence in teaching. Elliott teaches Louisiana
history and is a frequent contributor of history articles to scholarly journals and conferences.
     The series, Elliott said, "will be a marriage   maybe even a shotgun marriage   of
literature and history."
     The program will begin with an inquiry into the nature and uses of  biography and how
the genre relates to the culture and history of Louisiana, and it will then examine four
biographies
and one autobiography. 
     The six sessions are entitled: Biography and History: The Nature and Approach of 
                             (MORE)
COVINGTON DISCUSSION GROUP   Add One
Biography; Rascals and Rakes: The Pirate; Awakening: The Writer; "Bottom Rail on the
Top":The Politician; The New Dixieland: The Musician; and Come Up and See Me Sometime:
The Madam.
     The biographies that will serve as the basis for the discussions are Lyle Saxon's "Lafitte
the Pirate"; Emily Toth's "Unveiling Kate Chopin"; Louis Armstrong's "Satchmo: My Life in
New Orleans"; William Ivy Hair's "The Kingfish and His Realm: The Life and Times of Huey 
Long"; and Christine Wiltz's "The Last Madam: A Life in the New Orleans Underworld."
     "This program will explore the richness and uniqueness of Louisiana's people over nearly
three centuries through the lens of biography and autobiography," said Jim Segreto, director of
library reading programs for the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities. "There are five
personalities of controversial or legendary significance to be studied in books through 
the give and take of the reading and discussion format. There are no 'tests' to take, and everyone
has something important to say and will come away with much to think about, because both the
reading public and the discussion facilitators will be sharing ideas in a free wheeling forum."
     Early registration is encouraged because of the expected public interest in this program
and the limited capacity.
                             -SLU-
Press release available online at www.selu.edu/news/spring02.html