Macon Fry is an author and educator, born in Virginia. After graduating from University of Virginia Fry arrived in New Orleans in 1981 to write about the unique culture and folkways of South Louisiana. His first book, Cajun Country Guide, explores the vibrant artifacts of the region: prairie dancehalls, small town recording studios, meat markets, crawfish “boiling points” and shrimp docks.
Pam Fessler is a former correspondent on NPR's National Desk, where she covers poverty, philanthropy, and voting issues. In her reporting at NPR, Fessler does stories on homelessness, hunger, affordable housing, and income inequality. She reports on what non-profit groups, the government, and others are doing to reduce poverty and how those efforts are working. Her poverty reporting was recognized with a 2011 First Place National Headliner Award. Fessler also covers elections and voting, including efforts to make voting more accessible, accurate, and secure.
Ada Ferrer is one of the world’s leading historians of Cuba. Ferrer is Julius Silver Professor of History and Latin American and Caribbean Studies at New York University, where she has taught since 1995.
Louis Edwards is the author of four novels, including his latest, Ramadan Ramsey (August 2021, Amistad/Harper Collins). He has won both the Guggenheim Fellowship and the Whiting Writers Award. Born and raised in Lake Charles, Louisiana, Edwards attended Hunter College and LSU (B.A. in Journalism). He has had a decades-long career as a producer of many special events, most notably the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. He is the Chief Creative Officer and Chief Marketing Officer of Festival Productions, Inc.-New Orleans.
Marti Dumas is a mom, teacher, writer, and creative entrepreneur from New Orleans. An expert in childhood literacy, Marti has worked with children and teachers across the country for the last 15 years to promote an early love of reading both in and out of the classroom. Her best-selling Jaden Toussaint, the Greatest series combines literacy with STEM skills, and humor, and adds much-needed diversity to the children’s chapter book landscape. Her latest book, Wildseed Witch, is a middle-grade fantasy being heralded for its skillful combination of social media, family, and magic.
Chef Justin Devillier is the Chef/Owner of La Petite Grocery and Justine in New Orleans and the 2016 James Beard Award winner for Best Chef: South. Devillier was raised in Dana Point, California, a small beach town in South Orange County. He spent summers fishing for Yellowtail and Albacore tuna, and in the fall and winter he would dive for lobsters just steps from his front door. This bounty of local seafood inspired him to enter the culinary industry, and after working in local restaurants right out of high school he decided to focus all of his time on becoming a chef.
Professor Brian DeMare specializes in modern Chinese history.
Jarvis DeBerry, editor of the Louisiana Illuminator, spent 22 years at The Times-Picayune (and later NOLA.com) as a crime and courts reporter, an editorial writer, columnist and deputy opinions editor. He was on the team of Times-Picayune journalists awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service after that team’s coverage of Hurricane Katrina and the deadly flood that followed.
Karen L. Cox is Professor of History at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and the founding director of the graduate public history program. She offers a variety of courses in
