John (JoAnn) Guidos – Transsexual and Kajun’s Pub ownerīelinda Carr – Lower Ninth ward resident with big dreams Ronald Lewis – civil rights activist and owner of Museum of Dance and Feathersįrank Minyard – jazz enthusiast and New Orleans Parish CoronerĪnthony Wells – ‘jailbird’ from The Goose Joyce Montana – widow of Tootie Montana, famous Mardis Gras Indian

This stopped in 1912, however, wards are still used and often a personal identifier for those living within the wards.īilly Grace – former King of Carnival and Captain of the Rex Krewe

From the 19th to the early 20th century, the wards were used as a political system for elections, and each ward had an elected representative official. In case you are confused as I was, New Orleans is broken up into 17 different wards, the 9th being the largest. The biography begins in 1965 when Hurricane Betsy hits New Orleans, specifically devastating areas like the 9th ward. I had to stop after the first few chapters to read the back just to make sure it was not a fictional story.Įach chapter comes from the perspective of a different character – most perspectives come from a close 3rd person point of view, however, one character comes from a 1st person point of view. What makes it thoroughly enjoyable is that it reads like a fictional story. Nine Lives: Mystery, Magic, Life, and Death in New Orleans by Dan Baum is fascinating because it is a nonfiction biography following nine very different people from different facets of New Orleans spanning over 50 years.

Nine lives by dan baum