Bruce Nolan left New Orleans.
Nolan retired some years ago after a long career at this newspaper and began aging in the beautiful Crescent City. I came home to work here, in the city that I left for an extended career elsewhere, and now I'm aging in New Orleans.
I think New Orleans is a good place to age. Streetcars offer a 31-day Jazzy Pass for seniors for only $14 — a gateway to beautiful, free Audubon Park and City Park.
A New Orleans Public Library "culture pass" gets me into the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience, the Audubon aquarium and zoo, and the New Orleans Museum of Art. I love Black people. I really love New Orleans Black people and our culture.
-- A Welcoming Back reception and program occurred at The Advocate for columnist Will Sutton. Will Sutton Reception, January 5, 2020 -- John Georges, Peter Kovacs, Will Sutton, Dathel Georges
The opportunity to be a columnist and editorial editor/writer wasn't on my bucket list, but the opportunity to do that for The Times-Picayune | The Advocate | Nola.com from New Orleans made me say yes.
Nolan and I are both native New Orleanians. He graduated from Jesuit High School in 1965, and I from St. Augustine High School in 1973. He had a 41-year career with The Times-Picayune. I have 3.5 years and counting.
Nolan recently left for Houston. I returned in 2019 — and I love being back home.
Your Views: After a New Orleanian said farewell, some agreed. Others shared why they stay.
I understand Nolan's decision to leave New Orleans for Houston; he gets to spend more time with his family. But his family-focused decision has nothing to do with New Orleans' problems. I don't think the challenges he recited would be significantly different in southern New Jersey, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Diego or Jackson, Miss., — all places where I have relatives.
My college journalism career included two summers in New Orleans and one in Providence, R.I.; time in Norfolk, Va., with The New Journal and Guide and the Virginian-Pilot before a summer in Cherry Hill, N. J., outside of Philadelphia.
I spent my early years as a full-time reporter covering Camden and southern New Jersey before moving to The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Post-Tribune in Gary, Indiana, and The News & Observer in Raleigh, North Carolina. I did other work in Grambling and Monroe in north Louisiana before moving home.
In all of those places, people complained about crime, police response times and a lack of leadership.
The truth is, people everywhere count on their leaders to resolve big issues. Some of the best, most important work gets done by people who don't get a lot of attention. In New Orleans, those people help challenge, maintain and improve the city through various means — their houses of faith; fraternal, sorority and social organizations; for-profit, not-for-profit and charitable groups; and individual acts of kindness.
I love how often Carnival, the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, the New Orleans Saints, the New Orleans Pelicans and LSU sports bring us together and help us cope with our struggles.
Yes, there's anger, harm and, unfortunately, too often violence in our city. Every life deserves a peaceful end. I don't want to pretend we don't have big problems, but our worst crime stretch was in the 1990s. That's not what we're experiencing now.
A key word in Nolan's engaging, emotional farewell is "suburban." He writes admiringly of Houston but admits: "I’ve rarely ventured into its older core."
That's not unlike New Orleans. Many people live in suburban parishes because they choose not to live in the city — but they like being close enough to enjoy all the city has to offer.
I have friends who regularly travel from places like St. John the Baptist Parish to do just that. I also have friends that some of you would know by name, prominent New Orleans leaders, who have been close to leaving — but they won't say that publicly. One may shock some people when he retires; he's going to leave.
I know people who are deciding whether to sell their homes because homeowners insurance is so high. I have another friend who moved to Houston for a job — and to be near his family. He said Houston "has no soul, no sense of self."
It's important that our state and local leaders know New Orleans' current situation is serious. They also should know some of us want to make it work.
I returned home with my eyes wide open. I was away from the 1970s until 2019, but I visited often. I saw changes that hurt and changes for the better. I choose to be a part of making New Orleans better. That means staying, and through my job, offering constructive criticism and suggestions.
And it means living closer to family. That has nothing to do with New Orleans' problems. But I'm happy to talk about city issues with family, longtime friends and former and current neighbors.
I'm certain Nolan will enjoy his new home near his adult children, extended family and former New Orleans neighbors. I'm equally certain he'll miss New Orleans' culture, entertainment, food and people — all the things I enjoy regularly.
He made his choice. I made mine. I'm betting on New Orleans.
