Featured Column
So, I Guess This Is It
At six years old, I wanted to be Darrin Stephens from Bewitched. He worked in advertising, came up with ideas,…
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King Cake
Cakes Fit For A King
It’s king cake season. Those four words don’t carry a lot of weight across 90% of this country. Though in…
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Neck Deep In King Cake Development
It looks like 2023 will go down as the year of the king cake— at least in my book. I…
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RSJ's New Orleans Favorites
RSJ’s New Orleans Restaurant Recommendations 2024
NEW ORLEANS— In a poll of national food critics I believe New Orleans would be listed among the top three…
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RSJ’s Top 10 New Orleans Breakfasts
The following is the first in a summer-column series that will cover dining in New Orleans. Over the next four…
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An Engagement to Remember
This past weekend was a memorable one for our family. Our 26-year old daughter got engaged to her longtime boyfriend.…
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Recent Columns
In the Blood
When I was a kid, the number sixty-five always carried one meaning— retirement. That was the finish line. My maternal…
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What I Learned About Impact
“Since when is life about happiness? It should be about impact.” That line from Daniel Ek, the founder of Spotify,…
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He Ain’t Heavy
“To the outside world we all grow old. But not to brothers and sisters. We know each other as we…
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From Roast to Toast
There are tributes in life that make you proud and others that make you sweat—the Mississippi Press Association Roast of…
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The Table Is the Real Destination
SOMEWHERE OVER THE ATLANTIC—Flying home from Scotland, I feel two things at once—tired and thankful. Travel always does that to…
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The Ninth Wave
ISLE OF MULL, SCOTLAND—There are meals, and then there are journeys disguised as meals. This one began with a boat…
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Holding On
Before every party at our house—whether it’s a fundraiser, an engagement, or just another excuse to gather people—my wife finds…
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Vacations Through Time
Vacations weren’t part of my childhood the way they were for most kids I knew. While my friends packed up…
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Who Was Across from Me
I’ve eaten thousands of meals in restaurants. The ones that have stuck weren’t about the food. What I remember is…
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Lessons Between Courses
CHICAGO— My wife’s off on a girls’ trip, and my son happened to have two days off work. That was…
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What Pancakes Know
Some things in life are constant. For some people it’s a favorite hymn or a favorite breed in a family…
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The Sandwich Principle
Sometimes I catch flak from my daughter. My wife gives me a hard time, too. They say I overshare on…
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A Roast Beef Poboy and a Curtain Call
We landed in New Orleans on Sunday, which isn’t when most people arrive in New Orleans unless they’ve made a…
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Crusts Off
My paternal grandmother was one of the sweetest, most loving people God ever put on this Earth. She didn’t fuss.…
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The Best Job I’ll Ever Have
Father’s Day has come and gone, at least according to the calendar. But I’m still carrying it with me. There…
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A Long Thank-You Note
There’s a lot of talk these days about self-made people. I’m not one of them. Whatever I’ve done, whatever I’ve…
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This Wasn’t Supposed to Be About Milkshakes
Ice cream didn’t play a big role in my childhood. Never cared much for cream or shakes. Candy was more…
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The Door at the Bottom
On May 25, 1983, I was 21 years old—lost and heading nowhere fast. That night, I was fspeeding down 4th…
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RSJ’s Advice to Upcoming Graduates 2025
A few years ago, when both of my kids left for college, I wrote each of them a letter. Nothing…
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Eight Weeks, Fifty Memories, One Grateful Heart
By the end of this year, more than 1,400 people will have traveled with me on RSJ Yonderlust Tours. It’s…
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Onward Toward a Creative Life and Not an Unlived Life
There’s a quiet fear I carry that never really goes away. It doesn’t keep me up at night, but it…
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A Spring of Celebrations
YPRES, BELGIUM—This spring has been a long celebration—one after another, in a beautiful blur. It all started with Mardi Gras,…
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The Gift of Work, the Blessing of People
(A Life I Didn’t Plan, But Am Grateful to Live) PETROGNANO, TUSCANY— Two full days off. That’s a rarity over…
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Friendship
PETROGNANO, Italy — Something unexpected happened over the course of the last 13 years. A quiet village in the Tuscan…
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Rolling Fork is Truly Rising
PETROGNANO, TUSCANY— Since 2017, over 1,350 people have traveled with me on more than 55 trips to seven European countries…
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