A triple header of author talks will take place Jan. 13 with three local writers, Chip LoCoco, Vicki Salloum and Elisa Speraza, gather to discuss their new books at 7 p.m. Jan. 13 at the East Bank Regional Library, 4747 W. Napoleon Ave., Metairie.<\/p>\n
LoCoco’s “The Devil’s Jazz:<\/strong> The Haunted Chronicles of the Axman of New Orleans”<\/strong> takes place as WWI comes to a close. In the haunted heart of New Orleans, a sinister presence stalks the streets. A brutal serial killer known as the Axman emerges from the shadows, targeting the city\u2019s Sicilian immigrant community. Inspired by true events, “The Devil\u2019s Jazz” resurrects one of America\u2019s most disturbing unsolved murder cases in a city steeped in music, mystery, and myth.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n In “A Gathering Place”<\/strong> by Vicki Salloum, 81-year-old Blue Hamieh \u2014 a devout Lebanese Catholic \u2014 hears the voice of the Virgin Mary telling her to create a \u201cgathering place\u201d in New Orleans. She walks away from everything \u2014 her Mississippi home, her family\u2019s pleas, and all common sense.<\/p>\n Blue spends her life savings on a collapsing building in one of the Big Easy\u2019s most desolate neighborhoods, determined to turn it into a cafe that will unite three fractured communities. But crime, poverty, and underlying racial tensions close in fast. And her own family \u2014 convinced she\u2019s lost her mind \u2014 plots to take her back home by force.<\/p>\n “The Italian Prisoner,”\u00a0<\/strong>by Elisa Speranza, is set in 1943 New Orleans. Rose Marino lives with her Sicilian immigrant parents and helps in the family grocery store. Her older brother and sister both joined the Army, and Rose prays for their safety as World War II rages overseas.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Her parents expect Rose to marry a local boy and start a family. But she secretly dreams of being more like her fiercely independent widowed godmother. Behind her parents\u2019 back, Rose lands a job at the shipyard, where she feels free and important for the first time in her life.<\/p>\n EYE OPENERS:<\/strong> Joshua M. Groetsch, M.D., a New Orleans area ophthalmologist, will discuss common ocular conditions that can develop over time, including cataracts, glaucoma, macular degeneration and floaters, at 7 p.m. Jan. 7 at the East Bank Regional Library, 4747 W. Napoleon Ave., Metairie.<\/p>\n He will explain how to prevent them, and what management and treatment options are available should they arise.<\/p>\n Dr. Groetsch is also an avid wide-field astrophotographer. He will discuss and share photos of auroras, comets and the Milky Way taken locally and around the world.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n WWII GROUP:<\/strong> Cyril Lagvanec, Ph.D., will talk about the intense rivalries between the British Empire and the government of Vichy France (technically neutral) when the two became adversaries after France\u2019s 1940 collapse.<\/p>\n The talk takes place at 7 p.m. Jan. 8, at the East Bank Regional Library, 4747 W. Napoleon Ave., Metairie.\u00a0<\/p>\n Both sides vied for control of French colonial territories and resources. While it was afraid of Axis expansion,\u00a0 Britain acted decisively to neutralize French assets (fleet, colonies) that could aid Germany. Ideologically, Vichy France, led by Marshal P\u00e9tain, embraced authoritarianism and collaboration, while Free French forces under Gen. Charles de Gaulle fought alongside the British, creating internal French conflict.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n LEARN ABOUT DUELING:<\/strong> Local author and historian Derby Gisclair will discuss dueling in a talk titled \u201cAn Affair of Honor\u201d at 7 p.m. Jan. 15 at the East Bank Regional Library, 4747 W. Napoleon Ave., Metairie.<\/p>\n According to Gisclair, dueling was once a popular means of settling disputes, and New Orleans was the dueling capital of the United States, with the deadly practice becoming deeply embedded in the city\u2019s social fabric from its colonial days through the 19th century.<\/p>\n \u201cDueling fits into the concept of identity and spectacle,\u201d Gisclair says. \u201cThe concept of mortal combat \u2014 whether it is Robert Taylor as ‘Ivanhoe jousting five of Prince John\u2019s knights one by one, or Gary Cooper as Marshall Kane facing off against the outlaw Frank Miller in ‘High Noon,’ or Mel Gibson\u2019s Mad Max fighting Master Blaster in the dystopian futuristic Thunderdome \u2014 what ties these scenes together is the mythic quality of the duel. It\u2019s not just about violence \u2014 it\u2019s about identity, spectacle, and the illusion of control in a chaotic world.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n UNDERSTANDING COUNSELING:<\/strong>\u00a0J. Alexander Wieriman, Ph.D., will discuss \u201cThe Truth About Counseling\u201d at 7 p.m. Jan. 14, at the East Bank Regional Library, 4747 W. Napoleon Ave., Metairie. Among the issues he will discuss are who makes the best counselors, what’s new in counseling and what is missing in counseling.<\/p>\n BONNIE AND CLYDE:<\/strong>\u00a0Author Brad Dison will discuss his new book, “The Trap: The Untold Story of Sheriff Henderson Jordan and the Final Pursuit of Bonnie and Clyde,” at 11 a.m. Jan. 17 at the East Bank Regional Library, 4747 W. Napoleon Ave., Metairie.<\/p>\n \u201cSheriff Henderson Jordan\u2019s role in ending the crime spree of Bonnie and Clyde has been overlooked or ignored,\u201d he said. \u201cOn the rare occasion that he is portrayed in films or documentaries, he is depicted as an insignificant character. Since 1934, we have accepted the notion that Frank Hamer located the outlaws and led the ambush against them.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.nola.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A triple header of author talks will take place Jan. 13 with three local writers, Chip LoCoco, Vicki Salloum and Elisa Speraza, gather to discuss their new books at 7 p.m. Jan. 13 at the East Bank Regional Library, 4747 W. Napoleon Ave., Metairie. LoCoco’s “The Devil’s Jazz: The Haunted Chronicles of the Axman of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2223284,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[397944],"class_list":["post-2223283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-library-lagniappe"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Three-authors-to-talk-about-their-New-Orleans-set-books.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2223283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2223283"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2223283\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2223285,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2223283\/revisions\/2223285"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2223284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2223283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2223283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2223283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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