Greetings and a huge New Orleans shout out and thank you to Red and to John Broven for this site, such a splendid resource and beautifully rendered. I have learned so much here.
If you missed them in April at the French Quarter Fest, Red and John were on fire!
I'm a New Orleans-based author (and former journalist) completing a book-in-progress about pianist James Booker, who had significant connections to Cosimo. The book comes out in 2016. The working title is The Piano Prince of New Orleans: James Booker's Triumph and Tragic Genius.
I live a few blocks from Fats Domino's old house in the Lower Ninth Ward.
If you are a Booker fan or saw him play in New Orleans back in the day, I would LOVE to hear from you either here or at
[email protected]. I expect to roll out a website and social media for the book later in the year, partly for research purposes. There's a lot of old school, roll-up-the-sleeves reportage going into this book. I hope to uncover a few of the mysteries surrounding Mr. Mystery, namely what really happened to his eye???
I have enjoyed very much interviewing Cosimo's family and Lily Keber, the director of the Bayou Maharajah documentary--all have been extremely gracious and helpful. If you haven't seen the film, do it! It's a singular work of art.
Until then, kudos to Red and John. I look forward to learning more about Cos and the Code from the site and forum.
All best,
-Brady
