Getting Off at Elysian Fields: Obituaries from the New Orleans Times-Picayune

by John Pope

No city in America knows how to mark death with more funerary panache than New Orleans. The pageants commemorating departed citizens are often in themselves works of performance art. A grand obituary remains key to this Stygian passage. And no one writes them like New Orleanian John Pope. Collected here are not just simple, mindless recitations of schools and workplaces, marriages, and mourners bereft. These pieces in Getting Off at Elysian Fields are full-blooded life stories with accounts of great achievements, dubious dabblings, unavoidable foibles, relationships gone sour, and happenstances that turn out to be life-changing.

To be sure, there are stories about Carnival monarchs, great philanthropists, and a few politicians. But because New Orleans embraces eccentric behavior, there are stories of people who colored way outside the lines. For instance, there was the doctor who used his plasma to make his flowers grow, and the philanthropist who took money she had put aside for a fur coat to underwrite the lawsuit that desegregated Tulane University. A letter carrier everyone loved turned out to have been a spy during World War II, and a fledgling lawyer changed his lifelong thoughts about race when he saw blind people going into a Christmas party through separate doors―one for white people and another for African Americans. Then there was the punctilious judge who got down on his hands and knees to edge his lawn―with scissors.

Because New Orleans funerals are distinctive, the author includes accounts of four that he covered, complete with soulful singing and even some dancing. As a popular, local bumper sticker indisputably declares, “New Orleans―We Put the Fun in Funeral.”

Genres: Nonfiction

360 pages, Hardcover

First published October 19, 2015

About the author

For over forty four years John Pope has written obituaries for the New Orleans Times-Picayune. He also writes about arts and entertainment, especially local theatrical activities.

Librarian’s note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Mark Mathes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hardly anyone of public note in New Orleans and South Louisiana died without journalist John Pope writing about their life and legacy. He's done with this 44 years with the Times-Picayune, which itself transforms into a legacy on this day, June 30. 2019. The newspaper ends a run that started in 1837 and merges with the New Orleans Advocate. The author's outstanding tributes to the men and women, famous, infamous or not yet, are here in 348 compelling pages. They include his wife, Diane Pinckley, who helped rebuild New Orleans (page 269). Her obituary notes that she loved being in the studio with Dave Bartholomew, who died in June 2019 at 100. Dozens and dozens of stories are ordered and easy to read. Plus, lagniappe: four funeral stories, including Revius Ortique Jr., the first black Louisiana Supreme Court Justice. He was a perfectionist in the courtroom and his own lawn. He edged his lawn with scissors, Pope writes. The author proves that he knows how to interview families and survivors at the worst times and still craft truthful, accurate tributes on a daily deadline. He talked about this book, his career and tradecraft at Tennessee Williams New Orleans Literary Festival in March 2019. If you love New Orleans, her people, Louisiana history and the best stories, this one's for you.

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many of the obituaries are incomplete; complete sections are missing, leaving quotations without references and ruining the flow of these otherwise well written tributes.

[Melanie Vidrine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having lived in NO for 25 years and having been a reader of the Times Picyune for many more years than that, I enjoyed every one of these obituaries. By the end, those in journalism and the law stood out as the movers and influencers of their day. Many genteel uptowners were able to change the social fabric of the city despite the threat to their own privilege. We do not see that now.

[Candace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating mini-histories of famous and not so famous New Orleanians.

[Jan Carr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having lived in New Orleans, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and varied obits...

[Julie Bootman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Priceless for anyone who is/was lucky enough to live in The Crescent City. I have not lived there for almost twenty years. The cast of characters and luminaries Mr. Pope memorialized made me feel like I was visiting old friends.

[Wynn]

Probably would be good if I were from New Orleans. Not what I expected. I thought it would be more quirky. Maybe I did not read far enough. I got to the obituary of the sister of Cokie Roberts and gave up. Up to then all of the obits were about people who had interesting or successful lives, but we all do in some way.

[Albert · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a fan of New Orleans, I've read a couple of books on the city and its history. This is a compilation of obituaries published in the Times-Picayune newspaper of notable New Orleanians who have passed away.

Lots of interesting stories to read. Judges, Doctors, Restauranteurs, and business people are all represented here. If you're a fan of NOLA, this is worth checking out.

[Trish Graboske · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting and entertaining cross-section of the lives of all sorts of New Orleanian personalities.

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brought back great memories of times lived in the Big Easy.