Interviewer(s): T. McGuire. Grand Isle, LA

Affiliation: University of Arizona

On my trip in January, I paid a courtesy call to the mayor, David Camardelle, whom I had met on an earlier project. After chatting, he introduced me to the building inspector, Irvin Richoux. He would be out of town, but agreed to meet with me the next time I came down. I interviewed him in his office at the Town Hall, as it was being vacuumed at the close of the day.

Irvin Richoux is Grand Isle's building inspector and also port commissioner. He came from Golden Meadow at age 6, in 1944. His daddy was an iceman working out of Golden Meadow, then built a house on the island. Irvin thus grew up on Grand Isle, owned a gas station that was destroyed by Hurricane Betsy in 1965, moved back up the bayou for a few years, returned to Grand Isle as a minister, built a couple of shrimp boats, became the town's chief mechanic, then was asked to become building inspector. He was 63 when he moved inside to an office at Town Hall.