Bayou State Book Talk: Keagan LeJeune

Join author Keagan LeJeune for a lively discussion of his book, Legendary Louisiana Outlaws: The Villains and Heroes of Folk Justice, on Tuesday, March 8, 2016, beginning at 6:30pm at the Downtown Lafayette Public Library.

About the Book:

From the infamous pirate Jean Laffite and the storied couple Bonnie and Clyde, to less familiar bandits like train-robber Eugene Bunch and suspected murderer Leather Britches Smith, Legendary Louisiana Outlaws explores Louisiana's most fascinating fugitives.

In this entertaining volume, Keagan LeJeune draws from historical accounts and current folklore to examine the specific moments and legal climate that spawned these memorable characters. He shows how Laffite embodied Louisiana's shift from an entrenched French and Spanish legal system to an American one, and relates how the notorious groups like the West and Kimbrell Clan served as community leaders and law officers but covertly preyed on Louisiana's Neutral Strip residents until citizens took the law into their own hands. Likewise, the bootlegging Dunn brothers in Vinton, he explains, demonstrate folk justice's distinction between an acceptable criminal act (operating an illegal moonshine still) and an unacceptable one (cold-blooded murder).

Recounting each outlaw's life, LeJeune also considers their motives for breaking the law as well as their attempts at evading capture. Running from authorities and trying to escape imprisonment or even death, these men and women often relied on the support of ordinary citizens, sympathetic in the face of oppressive and unfair laws. Through the lens of folk life, LeJeune's engaging narrative demonstrates how a justice system functions and changes and highlights Louisiana's particular challenges in adapting a system of law and order to work for everyone.

About the Author:

Keagan LeJeune is professor of English at McNeese State University, past president of the Louisiana Folklore Society, and editor of its journal, Louisiana Folklore Miscellany. He has collected stories about outlaws and Louisiana folklore for more than fifteen years.

Authors will have books available for purchase and signing. For more information please call 337.482.6027 or email clspresents@louisiana.edu.

Bayou State Book Talks is a monthly discussion series led by authors from Louisiana who have written books that are of interest to Louisianians. The free series is co-sponsored by the Center for Louisiana Studies, UL Lafayette, and the Lafayette Public Library System. Talks are held at the Main Library on the second Tuesday of the month during the school year and begin at 6:30pm at the Main Library, 301 W. Congress, Downtown Lafayette.