Life and Selected Letters of Lyle Saxon Book

"He could take the dullest persons and bring out whatever latent charm or talent they possessed, and if there was really something there--some real talent, for instance--somehow it came to life after they had known Saxon for awhile, and they were never the same again." --Robert Tallant

Here, for the first time, is the life story of one of the South's most beloved men of letters. Over the course of his literary career, Lyle Saxon was a journalist, novelist, historian, folklorist, editor, manager of the WPA Writers' Project, and recorder of local color. In his private life, he was a gracious host, preservationist, bon vivant, and mentor to young artists. However, behind Saxon's glittering social persona lay an often-troubled soul. Drawing on his many books and private letters, Chance Harvey explores the real man memorialized as Mr. New Orleans.