Additional information
by Robert Tallant (Author)
Witch? Sorceress? Daughter of Satan? Murderer? Thief? Saint? Which label best fits Marie Laveau?
Queen of the voodoos, she is considered to have been the most important voodooienne ever to have reigned on this continent.
Robert Tallant, well known for his fine stories of the South, including Voodoo in New Orleans and Gumbo Ya-Ya, attempted to make use of all available facts and information in re-creating the life of this infamous woman. Marie Laveau, the last and most storied American sorceress, continues to weave her spell as those who read this fascinating portrait will discover.
Author Biography
Robert Tallant was one of Louisiana's best-known authors. Born in New Orleans in 1909, he attended the city's local public schools. Before "drifting" into writing, Tallant worked as an advertising copywriter, a bank teller, and a clerk. It was his friendship with Lyle Saxon that led Tallant to his position as editor on the Louisiana WPA Writers' Project during the 1930s and 1940s. In that position, he coauthored Gumbo Ya-Ya: Folk Tales of Louisiana with Lyle Saxon and Edward Dreyer.
By 1948, Tallant's career had launched, and over the next eleven years he produced eight novels, six full-length works of nonfiction, and numerous short stories and articles on subjects of local interest. He is also known to have corresponded with, as well as applied to, the Julius Rosenwald Fund for a fellowship in creative writing. During the last years of his life, he was a lecturer in English at Newcomb College as well as a reporter for the New Orleans Item. Robert Tallant died in 1957.
