This is not the first time I have written about Nora Jane Whittington. In 1978 I wrote a story about her called “The Famous Poll at Jody’s Bar.” Here is how I introduced her in that story. “Nora Jane was nineteen years old, a self-taught anarchist and a quick change artist. She owned six Dynel wigs in different hair colors, a make-up kit she stole from Le Petit Theatre du Vieux Carré while working as a volunteer stagehand and a small but versatile wardrobe. She could turn her graceful body into any character she saw in a movie or on TV…. She could also do wonderful tricks with her voice, which had a range of almost two octaves.”
All these attributes came in handy later in the story when Nora Jane, disguised as a Dominican nun, set out to rob a bar in the Irish Channel section of New Orleans. It was the quickest way she could think of to get enough money to go to California to join her young lover, Sandy Halter.
When the story ended Nora Jane had successfully completed the robbery and was on her way to California. I wish I could say that Sandy was waiting at the airport when she got there, sleepless and excited and true. I wish that dreams came true, that courage and tenderness were rewarded in the world as they should be. I wish I could tell you that Nora Jane and Sandy lived happily ever after in Sunny California. Alas, that is not the way it happened.