TJ Fisher

TJ Fisher is a Southern author, documentriacist and social critic who lives on Bourbon Street in the Vieux Carre (old square) — the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. Anointed by The Advocate (Baton Rouge) as “suitably outrageous and eccentric to represent New Orleans,” [Langley, Greg. “It's hard to read Orleans Embrace without having questions.” "The Advocate", April 15, 2007. [http://www.2theadvocate.com/archives/] ] Fisher drives a 1959 Cadillac pink convertible named Lulabell. ["Pearly Gates of Purgatory" synopsis. [http://www.tjfisher.com/pearly_gates.html] ] Fisher’s finned-tail Caddy appears in her works of fiction. [Lulabell reference. [http://www.tjfisher.com/lulabell.html] ]

Fisher owns Photo Doody, one of the three original 1940s Howdy Doody marionettes, a distinctive piece of Americana memorabilia. [Henderson, John. "Howdy Comes to Town." "The Palm Beach Daily News", January 11, 1997; Henderson, John. "PBer Won't Sell Howdy Doody." "The Palm Beach Daily News", August 20, 1997.]

Fisher resides in a historic and balconied Louisiana French Créole home built by a fascinating French Quarter businesswoman of the era, a "gens de couleur". ["Orleans Embrace with The Secret Gardens of the Vieux Carré", Part 1, page 53, (978-0977351473). [http://www.amazon.com/dp/0977351475] ] Fisher's home, a 150-year-old structure which sits on the same block as Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop, features the brick-walled courtyards and secret gardens typical of the French Quarter. [Buildings and architecture of New Orleans]

Post-Katrina

Deeply affected and yet galvanized by Hurricane Katrina, the storm’s cataclysmic aftermath and life in a disaster-zone city, in late 2005 Fisher broke through a longtime writer’s block. Fisher's "breakout voice" gained recognition with the 2007 publication of "Orléans Embrace", an emotional narrative about the heart and soul of New Orleans. The work of Roy F. Guste, Jr. and Louis Sahuc appear with Fisher's writings in the commemorative edition "Orléans Embrace with The Secret Gardens of the Vieux Carré". The compendium is a narrative and pictorial tribute to the city's ability to triumph over sorrow. [Hogan, Ron. "Author2Author TJ Fisher & Joshua Clark" (After Katrina: 2 New Orleans authors look back). "Beatrice", August, 2007. [http://www.beatrice.com/A2A/archives/002138.html] ]

The San Francisco Chronicle, The Advocate (Baton Rouge), Booklist, the Philadelphia Inquirer, Gambit Weekly, the Daily Advertiser (Lafayette), the Times-Picayune, Where Y’At Magazine (New Orleans) and other media quoted Fisher’s “passionate” and “poetic” prose about saving, preserving and rebuilding her adopted hometown of New Orleans. [Morgana Press "Press Room" page, media links and articles:" The San Francisco Chronicle, The Advocate, Booklist, Philadelphia Inquirer, Gambit Weekly, Daily Advertiser, Times-Picayune, Where Y’At Magazine". [http://www.morganapress.com/press_room.html] ] Although Fisher was born in Florida, she is considered by those who know her as a native New Orleanian. [ Steve O'Keefe. "AuthorViews", April, 2008. [http://www.authorviews.com/component/option,com_mjfrontpage/Itemid,41/] ]

Book awards

"Orléans Embrace with The Secret Gardens of the Vieux Carré" swept literary double gold at the prestigious PMA Publishers Marketing Association Benjamin Franklin Awards 2007 for “The Best New Voice Nonfiction” (TJ Fisher) and “The Bill Fisher Award for Best First Book Nonfiction.” The book also garnered gold at the Independent Publisher Book Award IPPYs 2007, the National Best Books Awards 2007 and top honors for the Nautilus Book Awards 2007. "Orléans Embrace" was named an Eric Hoffer Book Awards notable title for 2008. [Morgana Press ""Orléans Embrace" page, awards links: PMA Benjamin Franklin Awards, IPPY Awards, National Best Books Awards, Nautilus Book Awards. [http://www.morganapress.com/orleans_embrace.html] ]

The Bourbon Street resident calls New Orleans the “city of magical thinking” and says, “You can take the people out of the city — but you can’t take the soul, that remains here.” [Fisher, TJ. "Orléans Embrace." "Orléans Embrace with The Secret Gardens of the Vieux Carré". (New Orleans, Louisiana: Morgana Press, 2007), Part Three page 63 & Part One page 3. [http://www.morganapress.com/orleans_embrace2.html] ]

New Orleans

Fisher’s works are called love letters to the French Quarter of New Orleans — a seductive place with its distinctive history, character and architectural style — sending the world a message that we should cherish and preserve what we have. "Within the fabled courtyards of the Vieux Carré, one is never lonely; the company of the past is always within reach ..." writes Fisher. "We love the French Quarter not only because of who she is and what she symbolizes, but because of who we are when we are with her." [McMahon, Regan. "Bright photos. Fading world. Oh, the places you'll probably never go. Except in photos." "The San Francisco Chronicle", March 15, 2007. [http://www.sfgate.com/] ] When it comes to the long-term rebuilding and survival of the Great American City of New Orleans, Fisher declares, “We can decide to buck cruel contretemps or lie down and surrender.” [Mondor, Colleen. "Booklist", April, 2007.] Fisher calls her beloved city “a bewitching oasis of culture and civilization sculpted from a hostile swamp." [Smith, Ginny. "Purple! Green! Gold! (and more)." "The Philadelphia Inquirer", February 28, 2008 [http://www.philly.com/inquirer/] ]

In book signings and media appearances, the belle of Bourbon Street takes every opportunity to encourage people to come back to the Crescent City and help in its recovery. She asks her readers to help preserve New Orleans and to encourage the country to aid in its revival. [Hunt, Laura. "Where Y'At", April, 2007. [http://www.whereyat.net/] ] Regarding New Orleans’ struggles and triumphs since the storm, “Come back and visit us,” Fisher is known to implore in post-Katrina speeches, “Please come back. We need tourists." [Coen, Cheré. "Louisiana publishers win Franklin Awards at BookExpo America." "The Daily Advertiser", June 9, 2007. [http://www.theadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage] ]

Nonfiction

"Hearsay from Heaven and Hades: New Orleans Secrets of Sinners and Saints" is Fisher's 512-page book of a Southern eccentric's provocative philosophies, French Quarterisms (aphorisms) based on the premise of “Beyond the Watermark — 40 Days, 40 Nights Down in New Orleans." Fisher's musings of life in New Orleans, from the juxtaposition of good and evil, decline and revival and the balance of catastrophe and beauty [Coen, Cheré. "Crescent City Remembered." "The Daily Advertiser", April 27, 2008.] — sum up all that is precious about New Orleans and her people, when they are being very, very good and when they are being very, very bad. [James, Rosemary; Co-Founder, Pirate's Alley William Faulkner Society and editor of "My New Orleans: Ballads to the Big Easy by Her Sons, Daughters, and Lovers". [http://www.morganapress.com/hearsay.html] ]

"Vieux Carré Chic: The Art of Overindulgent Home Décor" is a coffee-table book of Fisher's design style. Skip Bolen is the book’s photographer. Fisher is a member of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) and the Interior Design Society (IDS); she holds a general contractor's license.

Fiction

"The Pearly Gates of Purgatory", Fisher’s long-awaited novel trilogy and film adaptation project, is back on track and ongoing now that she has conquered her writing block.

Writing style

A curious character in eccentric Louisiana, Fisher is a chameleon-like writer of dark humor and diverse works of nonfiction and fiction; her works center on New Orleans. Her advocates and critics say her heavier prose carries intonations of Sylvia Plath’s confessional poetry, to which she replies: “So, what’s the problem, what’s wrong with that?” [Hogan, Ron. "Author2Author TJ Fisher & Joshua Clark" (After Katrina: 2 New Orleans authors look back). "Beatrice", August, 2007. [http://www.beatrice.com/A2A/archives/002138.html] ; Post-Katrina event speech and video, July 29, 2006.] Beyond personal experience, her first post-Katrina work imprinted a style reminiscent of Lafcadio Hearn; [Library of Congress librarian/ALA New Orleans Conference quotation, 2006 ] she invokes Hearn’s voice that declared of New Orleans: “There are none who can forget her strange charm. [Hunt, Laura. "Where Y'At", April, 2007. [http://www.whereyat.net/] ] Fisher’s soulful narratives are said to celebrate and capture the elusive quality that is New Orleans. [Norton, George. "Gris Gris Rouge", March/April, 2007.] Emotion and passion pour from the pages [Benjamin Franklin Book Awards 2007 judge's comment, regarding “Best New Voice Nonfiction.”] of her books.

Personal style

Always one to make quite a fashion statement, Fisher's idiosyncratic and memorable way of dressing is often captured and profiled in the media. [Janjigian, Robert. "Editor's Pick! Shiny Shots! Wears It's At!" "The Palm Beach Daily News (The Shiny Sheet)", October 8, 2007; Coen, Cheré. "Louisiana publishers win Franklin Awards at BookExpo America." "The Daily Advertiser", June 9, 2007; Piscopo, Nicole, "A Salute to the Little Black Dress." "The Palm Beach Post"; Cara, Anna. "Ooh, I Hate Her (and Him)! — The Perfect 10." "The Palm Beach Post." "The Palm Beach Social Pictorial."] She calls her irreverent and edgy “victorianurbanite” design label "Vieux Carré 9th Ward Fashions". [VC9WF [http://www.vieuxcarre9thwardfashions.com/] ] Fisher, who is rarely seen or photographed without a trademark hat, favors the vintage styles of New Orleans milliner Nicole M. LeBlanc and Fleur de Paris.

Other

A redhead of Irish and Russian descent, Fisher is a previous American Rose of Tralee. She represented the United State at the pageant in Tralee, Ireland.

Fisher helped found the Rufus Fisher Dog Angel program at Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine, a program established in memory of her late yellow Labrador retriever. Merial now sponsors the program. [KSUCVM Rufus Fisher Dog Angel Program [http://www.vet.ksu.edu/depts/development/programs/DogAngel.htm] ] The Palm Beach Post, the Palm Beach Daily News, the television series Hard Copy and other media have covered her rewards and campaigns to catch animal killers.

Flamboyant and fiery, Fisher admits to being a paradoxical woman of many colors and incarnations, with a penchant for high drama. Never one to shy away from providing plenty of fodder for gossip columnists, [Cerabino, Frank. "$10,000 Makes Cats Something to Write About." "The Palm Beach Post"; Smith, Thom. "Photo Doody." "The Palm Beach Post"; The Season: The Secret Life of Palm Beach and America’s Richest Society, 2004 [page 31] , by Ron Kessler.] her soap operaish life has included a variety of glitzy escapades, public feuds and scandals. [McCabe, Scott. "Couple on Crusade to Find Cat-Killer." "The Palm Beach Post"; O'Meilia, Tim. "Ex-CIA Operatie to Sniff Out Trail of Feline Poisonings." "The Palm Beach Post"; Archives for "The Palm Beach Daily News."] Fisher, a longtime resident of Palm Beach, Florida, has also lived in Haiti. A self-proclaimed warrior-poet with a Bohemian soul, Fisher says she has found her true home in New Orleans. ["About TJ" "TJ Fisher Biographical Sketch, Curious insights, snippets and tidbits of the life-and-times of TJ Fisher..." [http://tjfisher.com/about.html] and "TJ Fisher Q's & A's" [http://tjfisher.com/qanda.html] ]

Early life and career

The only child of self-willed Southerners, Fisher's early years were quixotic and marred by family eccentricities. First labeled as a genius in elementary school, Fisher was a gifted yet fickle student. With intellect and maturity beyond her years, she found solace in her pets more than her peers. A bookish and yet audacious student, she gained early recognition as a young model, actress and beauty queen. While still a teenage college student, she was propelled into the role of It girl and recalcitrant socialite. Exposed to the South Florida Gold Coast “go-go” era, Fisher was swept up into the whirlwind “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” world of international royalty, provocateurs, playboys, polo and jetsetters. ["Gold Coast Magazine, Miami Herald, Arizona Republic, Scottsdale Magazine, Polo Players' Edition, Sun-Sentinel, Polo Magazine, Our Town News, Town-Crier Newspaper."]

By her mid 20s, Fisher's career had already included stints as a journalist, gossip columnist, documentary filmmaker and ad agency/PR executive. A scene-maker that slips in and out of the public eye, Fisher's creative endeavors and corporate successes has been punctuated by colorful detours, flameouts and long gap periods. She shuns the spotlight despite a high-profile lifestyle and flamboyant public persona. Fisher has been linked to several Forbes 400 moguls and celebrated “bad boy” titans; ["Austin American-Statesman, Arizona Republic, D Magazine, Dallas Morning News, The Cork Examiner, The Irish Times, BBC, ITN, Kalispell Daily, The Desert Sun, Aspen Times, Palm Beach Post, The Palm Beach Daily News, The Palm Beach Social Pictorial, Trinidad Guardian, Haiti Progres, Sarasota Herald-Tribune."] however, she did not marry until the mid 90s, when she met the man she calls her “soul mate.” ["Palm Beach Post, The Palm Beach Daily News."]

Fisher appears to live life out of sequence, according to her own terms and schedule. She admits the chronological order of her episodic life story is zigzag and madcap, not a straight line. She calls herself an “early-night-and-late-bloomer” rolled into one. Those who know her call her unforgettable. A consummate storyteller with a mysterious backstory as intriguing the characters she creates, Fisher once told the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, “We writers have a unique ability to rise up again, in a quasi sort of a reincarnation, from the soot of our own flames and ashes, like the Phoenix.” A master at self-reinvention and avoiding the clutch of trends, Fisher often signs her books with the personal statement and salute, “Here's to we survivors.” [TJ Fisher Barnes & Noble and independent book store book signing events, Louisiana and Florida, 2007]

Fisher is a longtime champion of the underdog, those who exhibit an indomitable spirit that inspires others; she a proponent of human rights and aiding the underprivileged. [http://www.tjfisher.com/guilds.html]

Guilds

Fisher is a member of the Writers Guild of America (WGA), Directors Guild of America (DGA), Producers Guild of America (PGA), Dramatists Guild of America (DG), National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (ATAS), Screen Actors Guild (SAG), Actors' Equity Association (AEA), and other professional guilds and organizations.

References

External links

* [http://www.tjfisher.com Official web site]