Milburn E. Calhoun

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Milburn Eugene Calhoun
Milburn E. Calhoun of LA.jpg
Born(1930-01-15)January 15, 1930
DiedJanuary 7, 2012(2012-01-07) (aged 81)
New Orleans, Louisiana
Resting placeSibley Cemetery in Choudrant, Louisiana
ResidenceNew Orleans, Louisiana
Alma mater Northeast Louisiana Junior College

Louisiana State University

LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans
Occupation Physician; Publisher
Years active1955–2011
Spouse(s)Nancy Harris Calhoun
ChildrenKathleen Calhoun Nettleton
David Harris Calhoun

Milburn Eugene Calhoun (January 15, 1930 – January 7, 2012) was a physician, philanthropist, and book publisher from New Orleans, Louisiana.

Louisiana State of the United States of America

Louisiana is a state in the Deep South region of the South Central United States. It is the 31st most extensive and the 25th most populous of the 50 United States. Louisiana is bordered by the state of Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, Mississippi to the east, and the Gulf of Mexico to the south. A large part of its eastern boundary is demarcated by the Mississippi River. Louisiana is the only U.S. state with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are equivalent to counties. The state's capital is Baton Rouge, and its largest city is New Orleans.

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Background

Calhoun was born in West Monroe in Ouachita Parish in northeastern Louisiana to Darrell L. Calhoun and the former Mary Crowell. In 1947, he graduated from Ouachita Parish High School in Monroe. In 1949, he completed the curriculum at the University of Louisiana at Monroe, then known as "Northeast Junior College". In 1951, he completed his pre-medical education at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. In 1955, he graduated from medical school at the LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans. He interned at New Orleans Charity Hospital. Thereafter, for nine years, he maintained a medical practice in Buras in Plaquemines Parish east of New Orleans. Calhoun served for two years in the United States Air Force, having attained the rank of major. He then practiced from 1965 until his retirement in 1997 at the Nicholson, Baehr, Calhoun Family Clinic in Marrero, a census-designated place in Jefferson Parish. He was chief of staff at West Jefferson Hospital in New Orleans. [1]

West Monroe, Louisiana City in Louisiana, United States

West Monroe is a city in Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is situated on the Ouachita River, across from the neighboring city of Monroe. The two cities are often referred to as the Twin Cities of northeast Louisiana. Its population was 13,065 at the 2010 census and it is part of the Monroe Metropolitan Statistical Area. The mayor is Staci Albritton Mitchell.

Ouachita Parish, Louisiana Parish in the United States

Ouachita Parish is located in the northern part of the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2010 census, the population was 153,720. The parish seat is Monroe. The parish was formed in 1807.

Ouachita Parish High School

Ouachita Parish High School is a high school located in unincorporated Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, near Monroe. It is administrated by the Ouachita Parish School Board. It is fully accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The school mascot is the Lion.

Publisher

Calhoun founded Bayou Books, an out-of-print dealership specializing in Louisiana and southern subjects. In 1961, he opened a bookstore under that same name in Gretna. In March 1970, he and family members acquired Pelican Publishing Company and relocated the company to Gretna, where they operated the enterprise for more than forty years, having peaked with some 2,500 titles in print. The sales doubled each year during the first decade of Calhoun’s leadership. Pelican books are sold in every state and in nearly all English-speaking countries worldwide. One of its most successful books was See You at the Top, Zig Ziglar's motivational bestseller, still in print but initially rejected by some thirty other publishers. Calhoun also developed the classic "Cajun Night Before Christmas series, which today includes twenty-nine titles. [1]

Gretna, Louisiana City in Louisiana, United States

Gretna is the second-largest city in and parish seat of Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States. Gretna lies on the west bank of the Mississippi River, just east and across the river from uptown New Orleans. It is part of the New Orleans–Metairie–Kenner Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 17,736 at the 2010 census.

Pelican Publishing Company

Pelican Publishing Company is a book publisher based in Gretna, a suburb of New Orleans. Formed in 1926, Pelican is the largest independent trade book publisher located in the U.S. South. Pelican publishes approximately 60 titles per year and maintains a backlist of over 2500 books. Most of its titles relate to Louisiana and Southern culture, cuisine, art, travel guides, history, children's books, and textbooks.

Zig Ziglar American author, salesman, and motivational speaker

Hilary Hinton "Zig" Ziglar was an American author, salesman, and motivational speaker.

Pelican publishes cookbooks, architecture titles, a series on editorial cartoons, and works on the American Civil War, the American South, and African American topics. Calhoun said that he operated the company on the principle of publishing otherwise rejected books for which there is nevertheless a willing market for such titles. The sales doubled each year during the first decade of Calhoun’s leadership. Today, Pelican is the largest independent trade book publisher in the South. [2]

American Civil War Civil war in the United States from 1861 to 1865

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States from 1861 to 1865, between the North and the South. The most studied and written about episode in U.S. history, the Civil War began primarily as a result of the long-standing controversy over the enslavement of black people. War broke out in April 1861 when secessionist forces attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina shortly after Abraham Lincoln had been inaugurated as the President of the United States. The loyalists of the Union in the North proclaimed support for the Constitution. They faced secessionists of the Confederate States in the South, who advocated for states' rights to uphold slavery.

Personal life

Calhoun was a longtime member and deacon of Oak Park Baptist Church in the Algiers section of New Orleans. In 1998, he established the Mary and Darrell Calhoun Recreational Center at the Louisiana Baptist Children's Home orphanage in Monroe. In 1999, he endowed the million-dollar Mary E. and Darrell L. Calhoun Chair in Pharmacology at the University of Louisiana at Monroe, an institution with a pharmacy college. In 2009, he and his wife, the former Nancy Harris, established the Milburn and Nancy Calhoun Foundation to support religious and educational activities. [1]

Algiers, New Orleans New Orleans Neighborhood in Louisiana, United States

Algiers is a section of New Orleans, the only Orleans Parish community located on the West Bank of the Mississippi River. Algiers is known as the 15th Ward, one of the 17 Wards of New Orleans. The neighborhood became the birthplace of Jazz as it was once home to many of the early African American Jazz artists in the early 1900s. This ward is the biggest of all 17 wards and is considered a historic piece of land to the History of New Orleans.

Following a lengthy illness, Calhoun died at West Jefferson Hospital. Services were held on January 9, 2012, at Oak Park Baptist Church [2] and then on January 12, at a funeral home in his native West Monroe. He is interred at Sibley Cemetery in Choudrant in Lincoln Parish west of West Monroe. [1]

Choudrant, Louisiana Village in Louisiana, United States

Choudrant is a village in Lincoln Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 845 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Ruston Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Lincoln Parish, Louisiana Parish in the United States

Lincoln Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2010 census, the population was 46,735. The parish seat is Ruston. The parish was created on February 24, 1873 from parts of Bienville, Claiborne, Union, and Jackson parishes, and its boundaries have changed only once. This makes Lincoln parish one of the Reconstruction parishes.

In addition to his wife, Calhoun was survived by his daughter, Kathleen Calhoun Nettleton and her husband, Carl Joseph Nettleton, of New Orleans, a son, David Harris Calhoun and his wife, Sharon Crosland Calhoun of Spokane, Washington, a sister Gloria Calhoun Lee of Calhoun, Louisiana, a brother James L. Calhoun of Baton Rouge, and four granddaughters from Spokane. [1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Milburn E. Calhoun obituary, Monroe News Star , January 11, 2012
  2. 1 2 "Pelican Publishing Company Publisher and Owner Passes, January 9, 2012". neworleanslocal.com. Retrieved May 19, 2012.