Johnny White’s Sports Bar was a French Quarter institution. Often called “the locals’ living room,” Johnny White’s was the only twenty-four-hour bar on Bourbon Street and attracted a colorful cast of regulars, local characters and tourists looking for a good time. Memorable french Quarter personalities like Ruthie the Duck Girl and Perri the Hobo frequented the bar in their rounds. During Hurricane Katrina, the bar remained a refuge to those who’d stayed in the city, despite authorities ordering the bar to close at gunpoint. When the bar’s lease was finally up in 2012, patrons mourned its loss with a full jazz funeral procession. Marita Woywod Crandle offers an insider’s look at the gritty, unique and often hilarious world of this beloved and much-missed French quarter icon.

book signing.jpg — Johnny White’s Sports Bar -
The Tiny Joint that Never Closed -
Until it did

This book also published by History Press, is a look inside the life of a French Quarter bartender. Johnny White’s Sports Bar was a French Quarter institution. Often called “the locals’ living room,” Johnny White’s was the only twenty-four-hour bar on Bourbon Street and attracted a colorful cast of regulars, local characters and tourists looking for a good time. Memorable French Quarter personalities like Ruthie the Duck Girl and Perri the Hobo frequented the bar in their rounds. During Hurricane Katrina, the bar remained a refuge to those who’d stayed in the city, despite authorities ordering the bar to close at gunpoint. When the bar’s lease was finally up in 2012, patrons mourned its loss with a full jazz funeral procession. Marita Woywod Crandle offers an insider’s look at the gritty, unique and often hilarious world of this beloved and much missed French Quarter icon.
Marita tended bar and managed this quirky little bar for over eleven years, gathering stories and anecdotes along the way. The bar was an important part of both the lives of so many locals and tourists, and it was also an important chapter in New Orleans' history. The only bar open during the storm and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, even CNN reporters found refuge in the welcoming walls of Johnny White's. The book is a love letter from the bar, capturing the flavor of French Quarter culture.

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