LEAH CHASE: Listen, I
Say Like This
By Carol Allen
192 pp. 6 x 9
57 photos - Appendix - Notes - Bibliography - Index
ISBN: 1-58980-048-6
Price: $23.00+ $3.95 S/H
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LEAH CHASE: Listen, I Say Like This
Leah Lange Chase was raised in a small, country town across Lake
Pontchartrain from New Orleans. With the values instilled in her by devoted
parents--hard work, faith and family--she soon grew into a woman to be
reckoned with. In her roles as chef of the most popular Creole restaurant in
New Orleans, nationally respected patron of the arts, and civic leader, she
has influenced the world around her in important ways. Reading her story
makes one think, "If she can do it, maybe I can too."
After rejecting the usual occupations for respectable Creole girls to work
in a restaurant in the French Quarter, Leah married Edgar "Dooky" Chase II
and began running the kitchen for her mother-in-law. After her
mother-in-law’s death, Leah nurtured the former po’-boy shop and numbers
business into a world-class restaurant. Dooky Chase was one of a handful of
restaurants in the country where African-Americans could sit down to a nice
meal in well-appointed surroundings. The restaurant was and still is
frequented by prominent African-American actors, athletes, artists, writers,
and musicians. It has also always been a gathering place for local
politicians and activists.
Leah Chase has become a living legend for popularizing Creole cuisine, for
her political activism, for her tireless work for numerous organizations,
and for her extensive art collection. Through it all, she raised four
children and survived the sudden loss of the daughter with whom she worked
closely and a bombing during the Civil Rights era. What has borne her
through it all is perhaps the most compelling aspect of this amazing woman:
her faith and her family.
About the Author
Carol Allen began her career as an educator and school administrator in
public schools in Louisiana and Nebraska, and as a university professor in
South Carolina. She founded and, for six years, directed the Paris Writer’s
Workshop, and organized the international conference, Women on the Move. She
is the author of a book of children’s poetry and has edited a collection of
essays by women on living abroad. Ms. Allen divides her time between
Provence and Paris, France, and New Orleans, Louisiana.
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