The Gorilla Man and the Empress of Steak

A New Orleans Family Memoir

Business & Finance, Business Reference, Corporate History, Biography & Memoir
Cover of the book The Gorilla Man and the Empress of Steak by Randy Fertel, University Press of Mississippi
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Randy Fertel ISBN: 9781496801135
Publisher: University Press of Mississippi Publication: February 25, 2015
Imprint: University Press of Mississippi Language: English
Author: Randy Fertel
ISBN: 9781496801135
Publisher: University Press of Mississippi
Publication: February 25, 2015
Imprint: University Press of Mississippi
Language: English

The Gorilla Man and the Empress of Steak is the story of two larger-than-life characters and the son whom their lives helped to shape. Ruth Fertel was a petite, smart, tough-as-nails blonde, with a weakness for rogues, who founded the Ruth's Chris Steak House empire almost by accident. Rodney Fertel was a gold-plated, one-of-a-kind personality, a railbird-heir to wealth from a pawnshop of dubious repute just around the corner from where the teenage Louis Armstrong and his trumpet were discovered. When Fertel ran for mayor of New Orleans on a single campaign promise--buying a pair of gorillas for the zoo--he garnered a paltry 308 votes. Then he purchased the gorillas anyway!

These colorful figures yoked together two worlds not often connected--lazy rice farms in the bayous and swinging urban streets where ethnicities jazzily collided. A trip downriver to the hamlet of Happy Jack focuses on its French-Alsatian roots, bountiful tables, and self-reliant lifestyle that inspired a restaurant legend. The story also offers a close-up of life in the Old Jewish Quarter on Rampart Street--and how it intersected with the denizens of "Back a' Town," just a few blocks away, who brought jazz from New Orleans to the world.

The Gorilla Man and the Empress of Steak is a New Orleans story, featuring the distinctive characters, color, food, and history of that city--before Hurricane Katrina and after. But it also is the universal story of family and the full magnitude of outsize follies leavened with equal measures of humor, rage, and rue.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

The Gorilla Man and the Empress of Steak is the story of two larger-than-life characters and the son whom their lives helped to shape. Ruth Fertel was a petite, smart, tough-as-nails blonde, with a weakness for rogues, who founded the Ruth's Chris Steak House empire almost by accident. Rodney Fertel was a gold-plated, one-of-a-kind personality, a railbird-heir to wealth from a pawnshop of dubious repute just around the corner from where the teenage Louis Armstrong and his trumpet were discovered. When Fertel ran for mayor of New Orleans on a single campaign promise--buying a pair of gorillas for the zoo--he garnered a paltry 308 votes. Then he purchased the gorillas anyway!

These colorful figures yoked together two worlds not often connected--lazy rice farms in the bayous and swinging urban streets where ethnicities jazzily collided. A trip downriver to the hamlet of Happy Jack focuses on its French-Alsatian roots, bountiful tables, and self-reliant lifestyle that inspired a restaurant legend. The story also offers a close-up of life in the Old Jewish Quarter on Rampart Street--and how it intersected with the denizens of "Back a' Town," just a few blocks away, who brought jazz from New Orleans to the world.

The Gorilla Man and the Empress of Steak is a New Orleans story, featuring the distinctive characters, color, food, and history of that city--before Hurricane Katrina and after. But it also is the universal story of family and the full magnitude of outsize follies leavened with equal measures of humor, rage, and rue.

More books from University Press of Mississippi

Cover of the book Legend-Tripping Online by Randy Fertel
Cover of the book Right to Revolt by Randy Fertel
Cover of the book Dan Duryea by Randy Fertel
Cover of the book Marilyn Monroe by Randy Fertel
Cover of the book Touring Literary Mississippi by Randy Fertel
Cover of the book Swapping Stories by Randy Fertel
Cover of the book Quincy Jones by Randy Fertel
Cover of the book Across the Aisle by Randy Fertel
Cover of the book I'm Just Dead, I'm Not Gone by Randy Fertel
Cover of the book Under Surge, Under Siege by Randy Fertel
Cover of the book Fame to Infamy by Randy Fertel
Cover of the book The Black Carib Wars by Randy Fertel
Cover of the book A Mickey Mouse Reader by Randy Fertel
Cover of the book The Jumbies' Playing Ground by Randy Fertel
Cover of the book The Natchez District and the American Revolution by Randy Fertel
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy