The Governor

We'd helped organize an event with Yuri Herrera who read from his novel Trabajos Del Reino, which at the time had yet to be translated into English, so it was an exciting moment. Following the reading Yuri was kind enough to invite organizers and a handful of the attendees over to his house on Piety Street for drinks and socializing. We sipped bourbon and danced. When it got too sweaty we'd smoke cigarettes on the stoop, drink more and regroup. A typical summer night in New Orleans, but a particularly memorable one for me. Having an author I respect invite me and my friends over for drinks was a first at the time. I snapped a few photos. Here my friend Aubrey dances with Paul, Yuri's neighbor who'd come to join in the party.

A couple of years later I'd made my move away from Louisiana and was living in L.A. One day a friend of mine, the lead organizer of Yuri's reading that night, asked me if I still had any photographs from the party. I told him I did. He asked, "Do you remember that guy Paul? He was murdered. He was stabbed to death." 

Paul was recognized as "The Governor of Piety Street." He was a charming, affable man, well known in the neighborhood for being a kind, helpful, and productive member of the community. His death was a senseless tragedy and a total shock for everyone who knew him. If you are curious about what happened, the culprit was found and the information is readily available online. Obviously though it is not an uplifting story.

In the same year as Paul's death Yuri won the best translated book award for another one of his novels, Signs Preceding the End of the World. Part of the award contains a grant of five thousand dollars. I was told that after Yuri collected the money the majority went to Paul's surviving family, a wife and teenage son.

Anyway. I don't think I share a lot of what is going on behind my photos, but I thought maybe I would start. I think about this one a lot.