Remembering Frank de Caro: A Conversation with Folklorists Barry Jean Ancelet, Marcia Gaudet, Nick Spitzer, and Robin Roberts

Join the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities and folklorists Barry Jean Ancelet, Marcia Gaudet, Robin Roberts, and Nick Spitzer for a Bright Lights Online conversation about Lifetime Contributions to the Humanities awardee Frank de Caro. De Caro, a nationally renowned folklorist who was particularly active in Louisiana, served as first chairman of the Louisiana Folklife Commission and president of the Louisiana Folklore Society. In these roles and through his writing he was instrumental in developing today’s vibrant Louisiana folklife community. His last book, Downtown Mardi Gras: New Carnival Practices in Post-Katrina New Orleans, co-authored with Robin Roberts and Leslie A. Wade, was released in 2019, shortly before his passing in spring 2020 of COVID-19.

The program will be moderated by Robin Roberts, professor of English and Gender Studies at the University of Arkansas. She edited a special issue of Louisiana Folklore Miscellany dedicated to Frank de Caro’s work that features, among other essays and remembrances, unpublished work of his, and a poem by his wife Rosan Jordan.

This program is produced by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. The views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this event do not necessarily represent those of either the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities or the National Endowment for the Humanities.