Lake Pontchartrain (Images of America)

Literature

 

Life on Lake Pontchartrain has been described countless times in writing. In 1852, Harriet Beecher Stowe included a description in Uncle Tom's Cabin: “The lake lay in rosy or golden streaks, save where white-winged vessels glided hither and thither".


Mark Twain had quite a bit to say about Lake Pontchartrain in Life on the Mississippi. Some quotes include: "Thousands of people come by rail and carriage to West End and to Spanish Fort every evening, and dine, listen to the bands, take strolls in the open air under the electric lights, go sailing on the lake, and entertain themselves in various and sundry other ways" and "We had dinner on a ground-veranda over the water--the chief dish the renowned fish called the pompano, delicious as the less criminal forms of sin."


Kate Chopin apparently enjoyed "The large expanse of water studded with pleasure-boats, the sight of children playing merrily along the grassy palisades, the music...". Alice Dunbar said, "Now, a picnic at Milneburg is a thing to be remembered for ever" while Eliza Ripley wrote, "a dinner at 'Lake End' was an occasion". William Faulkner's 1927 novel is not regarded as among his best but in Mosquitoes he wrote about the Nausikaa, a yacht docked in the New Basin Canal and the people who sailed on it. By 2006, Poppy Z. Brite was poking fun at Louisiana gaming laws as they related to gambling boats ..."Because the law allowed them to remain in port if sailing conditions were dangerous, the captains came up with all sorts of creative threats to their vessels".

    

Other books by Catherine Campanella:

Excerpts from New Orleans City Park (Images of America)

Home
Introduction
The Beginning
Milneburg
West End
Back to the Bayou
Lighthouses
Literature
Jazz
Change
War and Peaceful Pursuits
Life on the Lake
Photo Gallery
Acknowledgments
More Lake Pontchartrain History

Pages Recommended by Your Friends:

A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this book is dedicated to the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation's efforts to rebuild the historic New Canal Lighthouse.

Contact Catherine Campanella