Marsha R., of Baton Rouge, titles this story, "Just like the South," and I have to agree with her:
Richard Orgeron, of Lafayette, tells this story of an educational experience:
William Torres says, "Our great-grandson Parker, 6, bought a birthday present for his brother Logan, 4, with his own money he earned doing chores.
John Gallaspy, of Bogalusa, adds to our recent mention of Tom Conklin, the 6-foot-10 center for De La Salle High and LSU basketball teams:
Dear Smiley: I'm half French and half Spanish, so I've been drinking coffee for as long as I can remember.
Mike Montagnino, of Greenwell Springs, realizes you can hold a grudge only for so long.
Gary E. Penton, of Pineville, says he's originally from Franklinton, and remembers this incident from his school days:
Joe Mistretta, of Donaldsonville, says, "Community Coffee has always been part of our road trip kit, and it was present in the trunk of our car when I took the family to Washington, D.C., for a summer vacation in the late '80s.
Bo Bienvenu, of Prairieville, says, "I think we can measure our aging process by our junk mail.
Our long-running seminar on coffee has concentrated on Louisiana's contribution to the beverage, but it has also brought up horror stories like this one from Ted Hymel:
Dear Smiley: When we decided to move back to my hometown, Thibodaux, in 1966, we spent the weekend looking at a few houses.
"Once again, your column jogged the cobwebs in my brain," says Alex "Sonny" Chapman, of Ville Platte.
The Tuesday story about open showering brought this response from Frank Fronczek, of Baton Rouge:
"Old jokes were a specialty of my family," says Larry Greenblatt.
Chuck Pickett says this happened when he lived in Natchez, Mississippi, in 1962.
Frances Billeaud, of Baton Rouge, tells her parents' love story, set to music:
Dear Smiley: I would guess the traiteurs (Cajun healers) you described in previous columns are representative of similar healers in other cultures, where unconventional treatments were as good as you could get in a remote area, or at a time when d…
Robert Cabes, of Lafayette, says sports stories about the success of the De La Salle Cavaliers basketball team brought to mind this story of a hijacking by the coach at the New Orleans high school:
Alex "Sonny" Chapman, of Ville Platte, says my Wednesday story about the youngster who was surprised about Tony Chachere being a real person, "reminded me of a similar incident (your column does that a lot).
In 1989, Louisiana guy Michael Arnone found himself in New Jersey during crawfish season.
Willie Price, of New Iberia, tells of a Carnival mishap in New Orleans:
Bennie Hughes says our memories of small-town banks and bankers reminded him of the time he discovered his son was an expert negotiator:
Dear Smiley: About the "salmon in the luggage" story you ran recently: You ain’t seen (or smelled!) nothin’ yet!
Perry A. Snyder, of Baton Rouge, addresses the recent story of the man found asleep on a couch in the Governor's Mansion:
Another memory of Louisiana coffee away from home, from Bill Bankhead, of Baton Rouge:
From my "Nocturnal Visits By Escaped Beasts" file comes this tale from Peggy Duffel Simmons, of New Orleans:
Ray Schell, of Prairieville, invites my readers "to predict what things will be like in 20 years."
A childhood memory from Gary Chambers, of Lafayette:
Dear Smiley: In the '70s, when I was pastor of Southside Baptist Church in Baton Rouge, I had the opportunity to go on an evangelistic mission to Fairbanks, Alaska.
Our home remedies series wouldn't be complete without mention of traiteurs, healers in Cajun country when physicians weren't close by.
Warren Perrin contributes to our series on hometown banks of the past:
Jim Lavigne, of Prairieville, may have misread a newspaper headline, but the idea it addresses is not without merit:
Gladys G. Ford's little story tells why we should never allow our children to hear anything we don't want the world to know:
A reader's mention of the days of small-town banks reminded B.V. "Butch" Polito, of Hammond, of this incident:
John F. Taylor, a retired Crowley dentist, says he got a kick out of this conversation between his son and his grandson, which illustrates why you have to be careful about how you word your messages to youngsters:
Duke Rivet, of Baton Rouge, tells this story about LSU's legendary Civil War history professor (and Huey Long biographer) T. Harry Williams:
You might have noticed that to help celebrate the 100th anniversary of Community Coffee, I've been running a few stories from my readers about their experiences with this iconic Louisiana product. Here's one from Joe Simmons:
Tony Falterman, of Napoleonville, tells this spooky cemetery story:
Gail Boeneke, of Prairieville, tells of an experience folks in this part of the world might find familiar:
Dear Smiley: Many years ago my spouse, Mary Ann, and I signed up for an LSU alumni football game trip to Tuscaloosa, Alabama. This is when Saban was on OUR side.
As a left-hander, I'm sensitive to issues involving this minority group.
As someone who gets one or two junk calls a day, I'm especially fond of stories from scam-weary readers who are fighting back.
As I watched Michigan State's basketball team roll over LSU in the Sweet Sixteen, I was reminded of Lady Katherine's late Uncle Jack, who taught me that no matter how much we want to believe it, the Tigers do not have a monopoly on die-hard, somew…
Saturday's column idea for a business bringing a portable potty out to stranded motorists in the Baton Rouge-Port Allen area might have inspired Joseph W. Berey, of Covington, to tell of this incident.
Dear Smiley: When I was in New York my ballet teacher screeched at me in broken Russian-accented English. It made me a nervous wreck. So I decided if I learned to knit to soothe my ragged nerves.
"A friend of mind spent most of his adult life fishing, hunting and trapping in the south Louisiana marshes," says Tony Falterman, of Napoleonville.
Lowell Tilley would appear to have a problem with the movement of vehicles in and around Baton Rouge:
Robert Mills, of Shreveport, says an article about "the LSU Assembly Center's concert heyday" by Ed Cullen in the Spring 2019 LSU Alumni Magazine brought back the "glorious years" in the '70s when he was a student worker on the stage crew.
Harry Clark, of Lafayette, follows up on our Friday item about the national chain seafood place in Baton Rouge offering "live" crawfish to accompany their meals:
Dear Smiley: About exotic dishes in other countries:
Keith Horcasitas, of Baton Rouge, had a "like father, like son" moment recently: