http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wwno/local-wwno-939336.mp3
Jerry Alfonso Martin and his cousin Lloyd Serigny are in their 70s now. But they both have very clear, very fond memories of growing up in the Spanish-speaking Islenos community on Delacroix Island.
Jerry spent his life making a living off the waters and the woods, fishing and trapping to support his family. Lloyd worked alongside his fisherman father when he was young, but left for 20 years when he drove trucks as a Teamster. In this conversation recorded April 7, Lloyd begins their recollections of growing up in the community that was left devastated by Hurricane Katrina.
ALSO: In this extended conversation, Jerry Alfonso Martin and his cousin, Lloyd Serigny, speak proudly of their Spanish-speaking Islenos heritage that once thrived in St. Bernard Parish. They both remain bilingual and often switch back and forth between English and Spanish. Here, they chat first in English about growing up on Delacroix Island, and how it's changed so drastically over the years, then switch effortlessly into Spanish.
StoryCorps New Orleans interviews were recorded by StoryCorps, a national project to record and collect stories of everyday people. This excerpt was selected and produced by WWNO producer Eileen Fleming, with support from the WWNO Productions Fund and from Villere & Co., managing the investments of New Orleans' families for almost 100 years. Listen again at wwno.org or at nola.com.
