Frank Joseph Davis (1942—2013) was a radio and television personality in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

, distinguished by his tag line "Naturally N'Awlins" that concluded his on-air interviews. He served New Orleans television station

WWL-TV WWL-TV (channel 4) is a television station in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside Slidell-licensed MyNetworkTV affiliate WUPL (channel 54). Both stations share studios on Rampart Street ...

and its radio affiliate

WWL-AM WWL (870 kHz) is a U.S. AM radio station in New Orleans, Louisiana, owned by Audacy, Inc. The station has a talk radio format with sports talk at night. Studios are at the 400 Poydras Tower in the New Orleans Central Business District. WWL is ...

, from 1974 until his health-related retirement in 2011. Davis's inaugural broadcast responsibility was a live sportsman's radio talk show, following a brief career with the

Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) is a state agency of Louisiana that maintains state wildlife and fishery areas. The agency is headquartered in the capital city of Baton Rouge. Mission The Louisiana Department of Wildlife a ...

. His journalistic style shifted to on-air featured stories and interviews as his subject matter expanded from fishing in southeast Louisiana to the

New Orleans Mardi Gras The holiday of Mardi Gras is celebrated in all of Louisiana, including the city of New Orleans. Celebrations are concentrated for about two weeks before and through Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday (the start of lent in the Western ...

and the cuisine of New Orleans. His outdoor sportsmen's reports tied together south Louisiana cuisine with the sport of fishing in a way that was said to be pioneering.T. Mason
''The Times-Picayune'', December 10, 2013
accessed August 17, 2014. Davis perennially covered Mardi Gras festivities for local television audiences from a

St. Charles Avenue St. Charles Avenue (french: avenue Saint-Charles) is a thoroughfare in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. and the route of the St. Charles Streetcar Line. It is also famous for the dozens of mansions that adorn the tree-lined boulevard for much of the ...

broadcast booth. His death was due to

Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) is an acquired autoimmune disease of the peripheral nervous system characterized by progressive weakness and impaired sensory function in the legs and arms. The disorder is sometimes called c ...

, a rare autoimmune disease. Davis authored several cookbooks and other reference guides to the

cuisine of New Orleans The cuisine of New Orleans encompasses common dishes and foods in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is perhaps the most distinctively recognized regional cuisine in the United States. Some of the dishes originated in New Orleans, while others are comm ...

and to South Louisiana seafood. His culinary legacy included "bronzing", a toned-down version of blackening.J. Walker, ''The Times Picayune'', December 10, 2013, accessed August 17, 2014. He invented the "Strictly N'Awlins" series of seasonings. Davis's culinary papers were donated to th
SoFab Culinary Library and Institute
subsequent to his death. In 2014, the

Louisiana State Legislature The Louisiana State Legislature (french: Législature d'État de Louisiane) is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is a bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 represen ...

named the

I-10 Twin Span Bridge The I-10 Twin Span Bridge, a nearly causeway officially known as the Frank Davis "Naturally N'Awlins" Memorial Bridge, consists of two parallel trestle bridges. These parallel bridges cross the eastern end of Lake Pontchartrain in southern Louis ...

that links

Orleans Parish New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

and

St. Tammany Parish St. Tammany Parish (french: Paroisse de Saint-Tammany) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana named after Tamanend, the legendary Lenape Chief of Chiefs and the "Patron Saint of America." At the 2020 census, the population was 2 ...

over the eastern end of

Lake Pontchartrain Lake Pontchartrain ( ) is an estuary located in southeastern Louisiana in the United States. It covers an area of with an average depth of . Some shipping channels are kept deeper through dredging. It is roughly oval in shape, about from west ...

the "Frank Davis 'Naturally N'Awlins' Memorial Bridge".E. Lane
''The Times-Picayune'', June 9, 2014
accessed August 17, 2014. This is an area where Davis often fished from boats in waters near the bridge.

Selected books

*''Frank Davis Makes Good Groceries: A New Orleans Cookbook'', Pelican Publishing, 1985, . *''The Frank Davis Seafood Notebook'', Pelican Publishing, 2008, . *''Frank Davis Cooks Cajun, Creole, and Crescent City'', Pelican Publishing, 1994, . *''Fisherman's Tackle Box Bible'', Pelican Publishing, 2003, .

References

External links

*Videos of Frank Davis's "Naturally N'awlins" features are availabl
on-line
courtesy of

. *A photograph of Frank Davis is availabl
on-line
*Representative recipes created by Davis are availabl

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Frank Joseph New Orleans television reporters 1942 births 2013 deaths Culture of New Orleans