Legendary Bourbon Street entertainer Chris Owens was a French Quarter fixture for more than six decades. Born in West Texas, she moved to New Orleans at the age of 20 to pursue a nursing career. After meeting the charismatic Sol Owens, her professional path took a different turn. The latest episode of “NOLA Life Stories” on New Orleans Public Radio revisits a 2014 interview conducted by HNOC Senior Historian Mark Cave, in which Chris Owens describes her ascent into the echelon of the city’s entertainment icons. Listen to the full episode: https://ow.ly/Y2z250VXrA1 📷 Photos 1, 2, 13 by Keely Merritt, HNOC 📷 3: Chris and Sol Owens with a string quartet, between 1956 and 1979. HNOC, 2022.0144.1.4 📷 4: Chris Owens posing with maracas, between 1950 and 1980. HNOC, 2022.0144.1.8 📷 5: Chris Owens with drummers and dancers, between 1956 and 1976. HNOC, 2022.0144.1.23 📷 6: Chris Owens dancing with women and a dog, between 1956 and 1966. HNOC, 2022.0144.1.19 📷 7: Chris Owens with women wearing firefighter helmets, between 1956 and 1970. HNOC, 2022.0144.1.16 📷 8: Chris Owens dancing with maracas, between 1956 and 1976. HNOC, 2022.0144.1.12 📷 9: Chris and Sol Owens at dinner, between 956 and 1979. HNOC, 2022.0144.1.5 📷 10: Chris Owens posing with maracas, between 1956 and 1966. HNOC, 2022.0144.1.13 📷 11: Chris Owens posing with maracas with women in costume, 1966. HNOC, 2022.0144.1.17 📷 12: Chris Owens dancing with women, between 1956 and 1966. HNOC, 2022.0144.1.20 🔊: Clip from Chris Owens’s oral history for HNOC, conducted by Senior Historian Mark Cave in 2014. HNOC, gift of Chris Owens, 2014.0140.2 (fb)

Avid readers and literary enthusiasts are invited to join us at The Shop at The Collection in coming weeks for several book signings to celebrate the work of local authors. Find your next great summer read, meet the authors behind the stories, and have your copies personally signed. 📕 May 28, 2 to 4 p.m. — Book Signing with Howard Philips Smith: “George Valentine Dureau: Life and Art in New Orleans” Author Howard Philips Smith will sign copies of “George Valentine Dureau: Life and Art in New Orleans,” featuring a foreword by HNOC President and CEO Daniel Hammer. https://ow.ly/Z3TK50VWL1A 📕 June 6, 1 to 3 p.m. — Joint Book Signing with Wendy A. Gaudin and Katy Morlas Shannon Celebrate Creole history with Wendy A. Gaudin, author of “Sunset Limited: An Autobiography of Creole,“ and Katy Morlas Shannon, author of “Invisible Blackness: A Louisiana Family in the Age of Racial Passing.” https://ow.ly/BJP750VWL1C 📕 June 14, 1 to 3 p.m. — Pride Weekend Book Signing with Larry Bagneris Ahead of the annual NOLA Pride Parade in the French Quarter, join Larry Bagneris for a signing of HNOC’s latest publication, “Call Me Larry: A Creole Man’s Triumph over Racism and Homophobia.” https://ow.ly/FgbA50VWL1z 📕 June 21, 1 to 3 p.m. — Book Signing with John Durel John W. Durel will sign copies of “Descendants: The Divided Lineage of a Louisiana Creole Family,” which traces evolving attitudes and laws regarding racial identity in New Orleans over 250 years. https://ow.ly/n0E050VWL1B 📚 Learn more about these book signings and other upcoming HNOC events: https://ow.ly/Hqls50VWL1E 📷 Photo 1 by Tere Kirkland, HNOC (fb)