Be Different. He Is.

The following letters are in response to Sam D’Arcangelo’s news post about Bob Dylan being awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

The fact Dylan is now a Nobel Laureate, one would think, is enough. His grand, accurate and spiritual tribute to the Big Easy makes me proud to not only have always labeled him as the greatest American songwriter in my lifetime but I will continue to invite the masses to breakfast at Mother’s, lunch at Commander’s Palace, oysters at Acme, dinner at Delmonico’s, cocktails at the Erin Rose and late bourbons at Johnny White’s before the a.m. bus departs for Jazz Fest.

—Edward S. Pugsley, Jr., Yonkers, New York

And now New Orleans has a Nobel Laureate in its midst. I still have a promotional button from Columbia Records that bore a simple sketch of Dylan that read “Be different. He is.” Perhaps that is the reason he fits in so well with our culture and the peculiar institutions we cling to daily.

—Alan Smason, New Orleans, Louisiana

Sarah Quintana

I know what it means…

Every now and then I have to write and tell you how much you make me miss New Orleans. I’m just another part-time lover lucky enough to have been adopted by NOCCA’s Tom Tews and his wife Mary-Kate a couple of decades ago. I miss them and I miss the pre-Katrina New Orleans I fell in love with back then, but every now and then, like while reading that great article about Sarah Quintana in the October issue of OffBeat just breaks my heart. She offered so much heart and wisdom. Straight New Orleans soul, no chaser. Wonderful! I’m going to search out her music and start planning my next trip down South for a visit to the last fair city in the lower 48.

—Joseph Blake, Victoria, B.C. Canada

Luke Winslow-King

It was a thrill to get to talk with Luke [Winslow-King] when he played in Scrooby, U.K. I think he is a great musician and up there with the few. If he wants to talk about how his pain informed his songs, then the magazine will print it. It ain’t pretty for anyone involved, I guess, but life is like that sometimes.

—Andy MacDonald, Shelley, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom

Preserving Character

The following letter is in response to Jan Ramsey’s blog post “The allure, the charm, the relevance of the old,” about the appreciation of the historic-yet-funky dwellings in New Orleans.

Yet there is so much that can be done to “modernize” our old structures—preserving character but working on their infrastructure, like updating insulation, foundations and electrical systems. It is expensive, yes, and sadly more expensive than building new homes and condos. But, you get what you pay for, and there is a reason your house is still standing after all these years. It takes a commitment to an intangible value, such as that you describe, to want to invest those dollars. I am doing it in my 1790 house in New England, but any realtor would tell me that I am much better off building something new if I ever want to sell our property… In their words, “the younger buyer doesn’t want old.”

I don’t begrudge anyone their individual tastes and styles, and I know that some people truly love new homes, and like the sparse, consistent feel of a newer place, but once we lose these old structures, they are gone forever. I was just at a presentation yesterday by a restaurant owner who had to deconstruct her 200-year-old building in order to build a new, more updated structure. She had hoped to re-purpose some of the wood and other materials, but as she said, “the frugal Yankees in the 1800s had already re-purposed the materials, so they were shot.” What a story—how can we ever re-purpose these new, “stylish” homes? I fear that we are now in a cycle of tearing down and building new, that is self-perpetuating.

—Rich Grogan, West Chesterfield, New Hampshire

Correction

The priest officiating at Stanley Dural Jr.’s funeral was Father Robert Seay, not Father Robert See. We regret the error.

—Ed.

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