AC Writers Unplugged

I discovered some intriguing facets of AC writers and their lives, so I decided to delve deeper into the world of the people behind the writing. Many writers here have atypical backgrounds, jobs, hobbies, quirks and passions.

I thought it would be fun and enlightening to share some of their individual lives with readers. You will be pleasantly surprised, often amazed, intrigued and at times humored by; things I unearth about some of our fellow AC Contributors. This is the eighth article in this series.

Walton Tissot - Hurricane Katrina Exile & New Orleans Musician

Walton Tissot became an AC Contributor in November of 2008. A sophisticated poet, I guarantee Walton's polished written work, which by and large embraces history in one way or another, will blow you away, even if you are not a poetry enthusiast. His handle on prose is remarkable and his writing multifaceted to put it mildly. Check out Walton's impressive poem "In the Light of the Seven Hunters," a blank verse in iambic pentameter.

I am not sure what Walton would consider his favorite piece of content, but you cannot read and not be moved by, his amazing poem, "The Last Stand of Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard. A favorite of mine is Walton's, "A Carpathian Vector and the Bloody Owl, which is an English/Shakespearean Sonnet. Also, take a peek at, "Bangin." If you like deep and reflective poetry, you will love Walton's content.

Kentucky Beginnings & Some Diverse Jobs

Walton has led a fascinating life. He was kind enough to share with me some of the details of his world outside of AC. Born in the Bluegrass State of Kentucky,Walton grew up there, but spent most of his summers in southern Florida. He landed his first job at 12-years-old, catching snakes for a local pet store in Florida.

Walton recalled, "That summer I noticed a pet store in town that sold only snakes and other assorted reptiles." "The man there told me he bought snakes by the length and usually paid $2-$5 a foot." "So the whole summer, I explored and caught snakes for cash, supplementing my new income by mowing a lawn here and there with my grandma's mower." He noted that he also bought his first "real" guitar that summer at a pawnshop next to the reptile store.

Grave Digger, Butcher and Signer of Death Certificates

A musician at heart as well as a musician who has "played music at varying levels of success," Walton, in my opinion, gets the award for holding some of the most diverse jobs of anyone I know. He said, "I have worked in a daycare, been a plumber's assistant, a butcher, and a grave digger."

Wait...it gets better! Walton worked at a state government job at first signing birth certificates and later taking a promotion to signing death certificates. He also worked a bit in a state archive vault. Walton added, "I've tended bar here and there and hold a bartender's license in New Orleans." "I have been a waiter once or twice and did room service in a fancy hotel." He was not shy about his confession that "...the hotel was the only job I was ever fired from for fraternizing with the guests." I like Walton's honesty!

Travel Bug, Outdoor Explorer and the Carnival

"I've always liked to travel and in my youth was known to go on a 'walk about' every now and then...a weekend here and there or during the summers," Walton recounted. "By 18, though, this was regular and for differing time frames." "For example; I joined a carnival in Berea, Kentucky. I rode around playing a dart game in all the tiny towns the carnival traveled to throughout south eastern Kentucky and Appalachia."

Walton expanded on his carnival stint adding, "I did that for months, but did not want to go west, so I left and hitchhiked home." He said it was the norm for him to go into the Kentucky wilderness, like Red River Gorge or the Daniel Boone forest...sometimes for weeks at a time.

'Jamm'n' in New Orleans & More Travel

Walton's move from Kentucky to New Orleans was because "...I went to play music...and I did!" In his words, "I drank and sang and drank and sang." He was "Jamm'n in the bars, on the streets, alone and with others." To this, Walton added that he participated in the New Orleans music scene in, "Different spots at different times of day and night and with different people and different music."

"I met my wife in New Orleans; we both lived in the (French) Quarter and ran into each other one day." "It wasn't too long before I was not working so hard as a musician." "I tended bar at a few different places in the Quarter, one of which was the Old Absinthe House, and I was saving money."

Things were great for Walton and he later started working with his wife, as a traveling photographer, for a company out of New York. "After a few years, we got tired of the organized work travel." In this working capacity, they spent a few months in Texas, back to New Orleans, on to NY, FL and GA, then back to Texas again. I see why Walton said, "It just gets old."

Hurricane Katrina, Gustav & Off to Budapest

Life was good Walton said and "then came the storm!" "Katrina was a true horror and everything folks say." "My wife and I left New Orleans a few hours ahead of the storm." Walton describes leaving New Orleans as "an amazing experience." He says it was a mass exodus that was epic!"

"We returned the day people who owned businesses were allowed and we were very worried what we would find." "As we got to the Quarters, we felt a bit better." "The French Quarter was there!" "Our building looked worse for wear on the storefront first level, but we lived upstairs." Walton points out that I may have seen his home on TV because his balcony was right across the street from Tennessee William's flat where he wrote "Street Car Named Desire and "people come and yell, "Stella!"

Getting back to the damage left behind by Katrina, Walton said, "From the outside the lower hall did not look so bad." "When we got to our door on the second floor, our door looked like the beginning of the outer limits. The door was swelled shut, but I got it open and it looked like a jungle!" Walton said the ceiling fan, which "was wilted," looked like a strange flower; it was raining in his house, too.

Deciding to stay in New Orleans, Walton and his wife found a new flat in the Quarter and "helped rebuild the city." "I opened 'Easy City Bookstore' and started selling rare and antique books full time." Walton said that has always been a hobby and sideline of his anyway.

Following Hurricane Gustav in 2008, another mandatory evacuation and an oil spill in the Mississippi, Walton decided to leave New Orleans for a while. "We wanted to move to Ruidoso, New Mexico or Intercourse, Pennsylvania, maybe LA or NY...the desert or the fertile plain, or a city."

Travelling a bit, Walton and his wife stayed in Brooklyn and revisited Kentucky. Almost to the point that they would settle in Pennsylvania, discussion led them to the decision that a 'less-known" place would suit them better and they headed to Europe. Walton has been residing in Budapest for nearly a year, but it is not where their journey will end. "We will be moving on again soon," he concluded.

Wherever the road takes you, Walton, I am sure the journey will be amazing and full of happenings you might share with us in a book of your own some day! For now, thanks for sharing some of your life with AC readers and many blessings to you in the future.