Tag: Blue Cypress Books

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Tenured Cynic Opens Up About Hopeful Book With Radio Host Jim Engster

Jeremy and Edie White atop Rattlesnake Ridge with the Cascades in the background

Author Jeremy White gives first live interview about his debut work

Baton Rouge, LA — May 1, 2023 — Talk Louisiana host Jim Engster recently chatted with author Jeremy White about his upcoming nonfiction book, The Little Girl at the Bottom of the Picture: A Journey of Selfless Discovery. The nearly ten-minute radio segment represents White’s first live interview about his hopeful memoir detailing how his wife, Edie, who was adopted at birth and raised by a loving family, discovered her biological family after altruistically submitting her DNA in early 2018.

White opens by explaining how the longtime satirist and former football official shed much of his identity—represented by his social media handle, comicref—just before the pandemic to focus on this deeply personal literary project about his wife of over 30 years. “It’s nothing short of a miracle,” White tells Engster and his audience, “that someone as private as Edie has come to see that her story is one that the world is begging to be added to the human narrative right now.” Edie’s husband goes on to describe her as “the last person to ever bust into somebody’s life like the Kool-Aid Man.”

“It’s nothing short of a miracle,” White tells Engster and his audience, “that someone as private as Edie has come to see that her story is one that the world is begging to be added to the human narrative right now.”

Engster then brings up the bombshell that propelled the two college sweethearts into this beautifully insane, life-altering adventure. White describes to listeners how AncestryDNA’s iPhone app sucker-punched Edie at work with news that John Hart—a beautiful, complicated man—is her biological father. The former teenage missionary was fragged in Vietnam before becoming a grad student at LSU, where the devout pacifist crossed paths with David Duke at Free Speech Alley in 1969. The headline-making incident is cited in two books about the former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard.

Talk Louisiana connects listeners with Louisiana newsmakers through live interviews. Hosted by award-winning journalist and broadcast veteran Jim Engster, Talk Louisiana airs live every weekday at 9 a.m. on WRKF-FM, where it is later rebroadcast at 9 p.m. Listeners can hear White’s interview on the show’s podcast episode from April 17.

Jeremy White is a tenured cynic who penned this hopeful book. He founded South Louisiana’s premier satirical publication in 2004, eight years before relaunching the award-winning Red Shtick Magazine as its all-digital progeny, The Red Shtick. The passionate Cajun can often be heard on various popular radio shows as either a guest or a guest host. A longtime football official and Mardi Gras krewe captain, Jeremy earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering at LSU, where he and Edie met. They’ve been happily married since 1992 and live in Baton Rouge with their cat, Waffles.

White Lines Press (an imprint of Red Stick Comedy, LLC) is publishing the 468-page hardcover edition of The Little Girl at the Bottom of the Picture on July 1, but readers can pre-order signed copies at LittleGirlBook.com, where 1 in 20 customers will win a signed “lagniappe” copy. Signed hardcover editions are also available through partnered indie bookstores across the country, including Blue Cypress Books and Octavia Books in New Orleans. For more information and resources, visit our media center. Inquiries should be sent to media@redstickcomedy.com.

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White Lines Press Launches “Lagniappe” Copies Pre-order Campaign for Tenured Cynic’s Hopeful Book

Promo video stars author’s niece he didn’t know existed five years ago

Baton Rouge, LA — March 23, 2023 — A Renton, WA, 10-year-old is melting hearts in a video announcing “the lagniappe copies pre-order giveaway for my Weird Uncle Jeremy’s book, The Little Girl at the Bottom of the Picture.” With an adorable voice and expert delivery, Hadley Hart explains how, “for every twenty signed hardcover pre-orders from White Lines Press, someone from the story will roll a 20-sided die to determine who gets a signed lagniappe copy.”

“Because when you’re done reading,” author Jeremy White says, “you’re going to want to talk to someone about it.” He and his wife, Edie, first learned about their adorable niece five years ago. “Like I tell readers, I never imagined a 5-year-old flat-out stealing my heart, but that’s exactly what Hadley did shortly after first meeting her in 2018.”

A few moments into the video, Hart loudly whispers the correct pronunciation of “lagniappe” (Cajun for “a little something extra”) before explaining how readers can opt to reserve their signed hardcover copies from one of White Lines Press’ growing number of indie bookstore partners, like Cavalier House Books in Denham Springs. Owners John and Michelle Cavalier describe the Kennydale Elementary fourth-grader’s pitch as “hilarious.”

The Little Girl at the Bottom of the Picture: A Journey of Selfless Discovery immersively reveals how Edie’s altruistic decision to submit her DNA results in a bombshell, propelling the college sweethearts into this beautifully epic, transformational adventure. Literally overnight, the baby of Edie’s adopted family becomes the eldest sibling in a new, amazing family, fathered by a pacifist cited in two books for challenging David Duke at LSU with a bloody knife. Jeremy and Edie travel on COVID’s eve to Seattle, Austin, Chicago, and California wine country to meet her far-flung new folks, some of whom see her as a wonderful expansion of their incredibly loving families. Others see her as a bona fide miracle. And at least one person considers Edie the answer to a long-secret prayer that she didn’t expect to receive until the afterlife. With a smattering of bittersweet moments, The Little Girl is heavy on happy reunions, including a mind-blowing, poetic parental reunion of sorts, one involving a Baton Rouge bookstore, no less. Transcending issues of genealogy, The Little Girl appeals to readers seeking empathy in a divided land, and authentic beauty in an increasingly ugly world.

Jeremy White is a tenured cynic who penned this hopeful book. He founded South Louisiana’s premier satirical publication in 2004, eight years before relaunching the award-winning Red Shtick Magazine as its all-digital progeny, The Red Shtick. The passionate Cajun can often be heard on various popular radio shows as either a guest or a guest host. A longtime football official and Mardi Gras krewe captain, Jeremy earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering at LSU, where he and Edie met. They’ve been happily married since 1992 and live in Baton Rouge with their cat, Waffles.

Viewers can see Hart’s video at LittleGirlBook.com on the Get Your Copy page. That’s where readers can pre-order from White Lines Press (with a 1 in 20 chance of winning a signed lagniappe copy), or they can reserve their signed hardcover edition from one of several partnered indie bookstores around the country, including Blue Cypress Books and Octavia Books in New Orleans. White Lines Press (an imprint of Red Stick Comedy, LLC) is publishing the 468-page hardcover edition of The Little Girl at the Bottom of the Picture on July 1. For more information and resources, please visit our media center. Inquiries should be sent to media@redstickcomedy.com.

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