Lyle Saxon (1891–1946) was a respected New Orleans writer, and journalist who reported for The Times-Picayune.
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He was born in Bellingham, Washington. He lived in the French Quarter; Sherwood Anderson, William Faulkner, Roark Bradford, and Edmund Wilson visited.[1]
He was an ardent student of the history of New Orleans and wrote 6 books on the subject. His most popular titles include "Fabulous New Orleans" recounting the city's celebrated past as set against his memories of his first Mardi Gras during the turn of the 20th century: "Gumbo Ya-Ya", an amazing and absolutely marvelous compilation of native folk stories from Louisiana, including the Loup Garou and the Lalaurie House: and "Old Louisiana", a local bestseller from its introduction in 1929.
He was a director to the Federal Writers' Project, WPA guide to Louisiana.[1]
He is buried at Magnolia Cemetery (Baton Rouge, Louisiana).
Contemporary historians of the city rely heavily on Saxon's works for reference. In 1986, M.A. Houston wrote a Master of Arts-degree thesis, "The Shadow of Africa on the Cane: An Examination of Africanisms in the Fiction of Lyle Saxon and Ada Jack Carver." Ada Jack Carver Snell of Minden was another Louisiana author who wrote about the Cane River country of her native Natchitoches Parish.