New Iberia, Louisiana, sits on the banks of the Bayou Teche, a couple of hours west of New Orleans. Live oaks grow large and grand on Main Street, and lush foliage emerges wild from the rich alluvial plain with an almost tropical feel. Words, too, take root in this rich atmosphere, heavy with mystery and ladled up thick with the humid Southern climate.
Author James Lee Burke knows a good thing when he lives it. (Read an exerpt from hiw new novel, Crusaders Cross.) That's why he sets his Dave Robicheaux novels on his native soil of New Iberia. In doing so, Jim becomes an artist as well as an author. He uses vivid descriptions of the sights, sounds, and smells of his beloved South Louisiana hometown to enrich each of his books.
Where Pirates Roamed
Jim and Pearl, his wife of 45 years, also live on the banks of the Bayou Teche in New Iberia, where generations of Burkes have lived since 1836. Here the onetime social worker, offshore oilman, schoolteacher, reporter, and professor crafts his stories about Dave, a New Iberia policeman.
Regal oaks surround the Burke house. "All of the trees on the property are named," says Jim. "Gen. James Longstreet is in front. Nathan Bedford Forrest is on the bayou. If anyone gives us trouble, we have the whole Confederate high command."
Bayou Teche remains central to Jim's life and to those of his characters. "If you ever get lost in New Iberia, just stay on the road, and you will come back to where you were. Everything runs in a circle here. It follows the bayou."
Jim describes how the pirate Jean Laffite used to tie his boats up along the water's edge. "When I was a kid, Laffite's mooring chains hung out of huge rusty spikes driven into an oak tree," says Jim. "Now the tree has absorbed the spikes and the chains. They're buried in the heart of the tree."
Buried in the heart of James Lee Burke lies an intolerance for injustice, particularly against people who can't speak for themselves. Dave Robicheaux often does the speaking for them. "Dave gives voice to those who have none," allows Jim.
