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Perhaps
alone, Natalie Scott proved instrumental in each of the key forces that
revived and shaped the French Quarter Renaissance. With uncanny
regularity, Natalie was the first to meet, greet and influence new
arrivals, many gaining substantial significance:
- She was there that
first day when Sherwood Anderson came to the Double Dealer
office
- She
was the first person Bill Spratling remembered meeting in the French
Quarter, Natalie then integrating him into the Quarter’s social
life
- She
immediately met Tulane anthropologist-Mayan explorer Frans Blom upon
his arrival in New Orleans
- She
also met Oliver LaFarge when he came to the city
in March, 1925, Natalie putting him on a Mardi Gras float, introducing
him through the city.
- She
also introduced Elizabeth Anderson
(Sherwood’s new wife) to New Orleans society.
Natalie promoted in her column the works of
these individuals, the artists and authors laboring in the Quarter,
preserving the humor of their parties, the plays, exhibits, the social
life in the Vieux Carré. She became the
landlady and companion of Faulkner, Spratling, Oliver LaFarge, among
many others. She and Spratling wrote their book on Louisiana
plantations, the first in its field; she wrote award winning plays and
performed often on stage, published magazine articles and popular
cookbooks on New Orleans cuisine. As she traveled across the world, her
newspaper column kept her readers entertained, her activities abroad
frequently the subject of front page newspaper stories.
Her New Orleans States columns have become a treasure
trove for researchers on Faulkner, Anderson, the Double Dealer,
and the evolving development of the French Quarter Renaissance.
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Sunday, August 07, 2005