New Orleans Secular Humanist Association

Journalist and author Robert Mann, professor emeritus of mass communication at LSU, will discuss his new book, You Are My Sunshine, at 2:30 p.m., Saturday, April 19, at the East Bank Regional Library, 4747 W. Napoleon, Metairie.

This event is free of charge and open to the public. It occurs as part of the regularly scheduled meeting of the New Orleans Secular Humanists Association.

In You Are My Sunshine, Robert Mann weaves together the birth of country music, Louisiana political history, World War II, and the American civil rights movement to produce a compelling biography of one of the world’s most popular musical compositions. It is the story of a song that, despite its simple, sweet melody and lyrics, holds the weight of history within its chords.

The song’s journey to global fame began in 1939, when two obscure “hillbilly” groups recorded it. By the century’s end, it was a cultural phenomenon covered by hundreds of artists spanning every genre. It entered the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999 and the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry in 2012.

At the center of this story is Jimmie Davis, who capitalized on his country music stardom to win two terms as Louisiana’s governor. In 1940, Davis became the third artist to record “Sunshine,” after he bought it and claimed it as his composition. The song became his anthem and a staple of his political rallies, radiating warmth and wholesomeness. 

Robert “Bob” Mann is a professor emeritus of mass communication at Louisiana State University. He held the Manship Endowed Chair in Journalism at the Manship School of Mass Communication at LSU for 18 years. 

He is the author of 10 books, including critically acclaimed political histories of the U.S. civil rights movement, the Vietnam War, American wartime dissent, Ronald Reagan, and the 1964 presidential election. His previous book, Kingfish U: Huey Long and LSU, was published by LSU Press.

He has written for many national publications, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, Politico, Salon, Vox, and Smithsonian magazine. From 2013 to 2018, he wrote a weekly political column in the New Orleans Times-Picayune. In the early 1980s, he covered Louisiana politics as a reporter for the Shreveport Journal and the Monroe News-Star.

Mann spent more than 20 years in politics as a senior aide to U.S. senators Russell Long and John Breaux and Governor Kathleen Blanco. In 2014, he was inducted into the Louisiana Political Hall of Fame.

For more information regarding this presentation, contact Chris Smith, Manager of Adult Programming for the library, at 504-889-8143 or wcsmith@jefferson.lib.la.us.

NOSHA was formed to provide an opportunity for like-minded people to meet and exchange ideas and to promote awareness of Secular Humanist viewpoints in the community.  The group strives to make the public aware of the importance of separation of church and state, to oppose the teaching of creationism and other religious exercises in public schools, and to provide a voice of reason when superstition is presented in the media. Speakers focus on science-related topics such as coastal erosion, hearing aids, neurological disorders, etc.