About the Author:
Authors Tommy Cobb and Mara Currie, with the help of the good citizens of the Houma, weave a remarkable story with historical photographs and anecdotes of this truly unique part of Louisiana.
Review:
Title: Book helps recall thoughts of memory lane
Author: Irene Michel
Publisher: Houma Today
Date: 8/8/09
Our eldest son and his wife, who live in North Carolina, recently came over for a short visit. While they were here, they purchased a book at one of the stores in Southland Mall and presented it to my husband and I.
The title of the book is "Images of America: Houma" by Thomas Blum Cobb and Mara Currie.
I haven't had time to read the book yet, but just leafing through the pages brought back memories from some of my earliest years. I knew, by just looking at the cover, that it would be an adventure of sorts just to glance through the photos from the past. The cover photo looked rather familiar, and upon closer inspection, I searched for the page that would identify the people on the cover. Lo and behold, the "queen" pictured there was none other than my former teacher at Terrebonne High School, Alma Chauvin, who later married and became Alma Richard.
Perhaps it was because she was such a sweet teacher, but in addition to being sweet, she was a beautiful, young lady. It thrilled me to see her so prominently portrayed in this book about local people, local places and local scenes.
On page 73, I noticed a picture of my father-in-law, Mike Michel, seated on a bench in the Courtsquare with Levy Marcel. I saw a picture of a Mrs. Menville who was wearing an absolutely lovely two-piece suit she had knitted herself. The only thing I could have wished for more is that the dress, which fit the lady so perfectly, had been shown in color rather than black and white.
Another picture showed the youthful faces of Emanuel Geiger, Tracy Duplantis and Effie Breaux, among others. I would have recognized Duplantis and Breaux, but had his name not been posted below the group photo, I doubt that I would have recognized Geiger. I recognized some of the other names, but I was not fortunate enough to have gotten to know them well.
On page 52, I found a picture of a very handsome John Gordon, who was editor and co-publisher of The Houma Courier when I wrote the Daigleville News for the paper in the mid-1950s. Those were happy days for me. My husband, our three children and I had just moved into a house at Main and Jackson streets, and I thought we were in our own private heaven. That little job with The Houma Courier made everything perfect.
Although I didn't personally know the three persons pictured on page 45, I did know that they made lasting impressions on the people of Terrebonne Parish. They were well-respected men of the community.
Claude H. Wallis, Judge Robert B. Butler and the Rev. John N. Blackburn left their mark on the parish by their common sense and good deeds. In their book, Cobb and Currie refer to them as "Houma's three wise men." Never were truer words spoken.
What a lovely trip down memory lane. And to think, I've just begun the journey.
Irene C. Michel, a native of Terrebonne Parish, is a freelance columnist for The Courier. Her column appears in Sunday and Wednesday editions of The Courier. If you have a story you would like to share with her, you can call her at 876-3252 or e-mail imichel@comcast.net.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.