Soirée in the Stacks

On January 30th, the Friends of the Rapides Library held their annual Soirée in the Stacks; author Bud Johnson was the guest speaker that evening. His book The Perfect Season: LSU’s Magic Year – 1958, is the inside story seen through the eyes of a young, 23 year old assistant sports publicity, himself. He joined the LSU staff in February, 1958 and watched Baton Rouge come alive with football fever…from “show me” to hysteria in a matter of weeks. He had access to the LSU staff, coaches, and players.

Mr. Johnson takes the readers behind the scenes. He interviewed the coaches who helped the LSU staff install the offense, Forrest Evashevski, Mike Lude and Tubby Raymond. He visited with many members of the LSU team as they relived LSU’s Magic Year – 1958.

One phrase from Mr. Johnson’s book describing the 1958 fans says it all: “A LSU football ticket seemed to equip normal people with boundless energy and the ability to yell all night. It was as if a casting director was searching for a hysterical mob, and holding tryouts in the stadium.” Halfback Scooter Purvis recalled, “The crowd was into it like never before; it was like they were all going to play in the game!”

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