Jenni Lawson describes Dr. Jules d'Hemecourt's recording of "Cajun Night Before Christmas,"and recalls his importance to KLSU. Jennifer "Jenni" Lawson Oral History Interview, Mss. 4700.2591, LLMVC, LSU Libraries, Baton Rouge, La.
JENNI LAWSON: And such a voice, you know. I still . . . he was also Tee Jules, he did the Cajun Night Before Christmas, you know when you hear that on the radio? That's him. He didn't talk like that. That was an accent put on. The Cajun Twelve Days of Christmas. I think I still have the single. He signed it for me, Tee Jules. But, you know when I'm at Christmas Celebration in the Oaks here in New Orleans in City Park they play that. I hear his voice, and I'm starting to tear up now, because I hear his voice even though it's in a Cajun accent, (in a deeper voice) and he really had this beautiful accent, talked all the time, beautiful voice, but then he did the Cajun Night before Christmas thing. But I hear his voice and it still makes me weep a little because, you know . . . And it was just funny because my present day husband is like, "What is wrong with you? This is funny. This is hilarious." It's like, "I know, but it's . . . (sniffle) It's Dr. D." But that's the kind of guy he was in the J[ournalism] school and with KLSU. He was just influential, stern when he needed to be, but a very kind man, very knowledgeable and gave you credit. He gave students a lot of respect. Maybe some didn't deserve it. But he let you know that, you know, you knew what you were doing. And it was nice.
Dez Crawford remembers Dr. d'Hemecourt's mentorship as the KLSU advisor. Dez Crawford Oral History Interview, Mss. 4700.2593, LLMVC, LSU Libraries, Baton Rouge, La.
DEZ CRAWFORD: Jules was absolutely delightful, and it grieves me so much, not just that he passed, but that people like you never got to meet him. You want to get an idea of his personality, Google "Cajun Night Before" . . . not Google, Youtube "Cajun Night Before Christmas." He was like that all the time. He was always funny, inspiring, he could be serious, and when he was serious it was like that uncle you went to when you had a problem, you know. But he was a joy to work with. And he was very hands off. He didn't micromanage the station at all. All he wanted was to make sure that you followed the FCC rules, and he kept the station turned on in his office, you know, to listen to see. And if somebody needed a little guidance, like, "Honey, listen to me carefully, there's no such thing as 'the weather outside,' we better hope the weather's inside." [laughs] That kind of thing. He talked about economy of language and things like that if you were a deejay. And, you know, he'd help people who were new with learning to speak efficiently. Back then, we actually had to know our music well enough so we'd know that it was like eight beats until the singing started, so when you hit the. . . .when you hit that pot and turned that on, you were talking right up until the singing started. You didn't have it all computerized now where you know you have exactly seventeen seconds to say what you need to say, you had to remember. He taught you how to pace yourself. He taught you how to be articulate. He was so patient. He was so fun. He was a fabulous teacher. I really consider myself tremendously fortunate to have had him in my life. And he treated all of his students like adults, because we were adults. He said, "You're not kids, you're adults!" If you were lucky and he had a barbecue, he invited the station over to his house. "I'm having a barbeque Sunday. Everybody who's not on the air, come on over." He was amazing.