A native of New Orleans, Louisiana, Tuohy knew what it meant to be the poor kid in a private school… he had been one himself. With sports as his meal ticket through high school and college, Tuohy left home after graduating from The Isidore Newman School and headed for The University of Mississippi, better known as Ole Miss, on a basketball scholarship. When Tuohy graduated from Ole Miss, he shattered every major SEC assist record. Tuohy had become a legend in the SEC! He led Ole Miss to their first ever SEC championship and holds honors from Hall of Fames to retired jerseys.

Natasha Trethewey served two terms as the 19th Poet Laureate of the United States (2012-2014).

Michael Tisserand is a New Orleans-based author whose 2017 book, KRAZY: GEORGE HER-RIMAN, A LIFE AND BLACK AND WHITE explored the art and life of cartoonist George Her-riman, New Orleans-born creator of the comic strip “Krazy Kat.” THE NEW YORK TIMES includ-ed KRAZY in its one hundred notable books for 2017. KRAZY also received the Eisner Award for best comics-related book, and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle and PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld awards for biography.

Evan Thomas is the author of ten books, including The Wise Men (with Walter Isaacson), The Man to See, The Very Best Men, Robert Kennedy, John Paul Jones, Sea of Thunder, The War Lovers, Ike’s Bluff, Being Nixon, and First: Sandra Day O’Connor. John Paul Jones, Sea of Thunder, Being Nixon, and First were all New York Times bestsellers.

Michael Strecker is an award-winning author and standup comedian.

Sue Strachan has sat at the intersection of culture and human behavior with a drink at the ready. Cocktails were at the ready. Her first book was "The Cafe Brulot" (2021), followed by “The Obituary Cocktail” (2025), both part of LSU Press Iconic New Orleans Cocktail series.

Richard Stengel is the former Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy in the Obama administration. Prior to going to Washington, Stengel was the editor of TIME for seven years. He was also the president and CEO of the National Constitution Center. In the 1990s, he collaborated with Nelson Mandela on the South African’s autobiography, “Long Walk to Freedom.” He is the author of a number of books, the most recent of which is “Information Wars: How We Lost the Global Battle Against Disinformation.” He is a political analyst for MSNBC.

Nick Spitzer is a Professor of Anthropology at Tulane. He has hosted & produced public radio’s American Routes, a weekly vernacular American music, interview and cultural program heard nationwide for 25 years. Nick founded the state of Louisiana Folklife Program (1978), where he helped create the Baton Rouge Blues Festival, Louisiana Folk Festival, Spanish Town Mardi Gras and granting programs for traditional artists and cultures statewide.

Dana Spiotta is the author of five novels, most recently Wayward, which was a New York Times Critics' Top Book of the Year. Spiotta has been a finalist for the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. She was a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Rome Prize, the St. Francis College Literary Prize, and the John Updike Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She teaches in the Syracuse University Creative Writing Program.

Susan Spicer began her cooking career in New Orleans as an apprentice to Chef Daniel Bonnot at the Louis XVI Restaurant in 1979. Her resume includes staging with Chef Roland Durand in Paris, extensive travel in Europe and California, as well as stints at chef at Savoire Faire and the Bistro at Maison de Ville in New Orleans.