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NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AP) -- Justin Wilson, the Cajun humorist and chef whose distinctive accent delighted viewers of his "Cookin' Cajun" and other TV shows, has died. He was 87.

His daughter Sarah Sue Easterly said Wilson died Wednesday in Baton Rouge. She would not give details but said more information would be released later Thursday.

Over Wilson's career, he released five cookbooks, recorded 27 spoken-word albums of stories and an album of Christmas songs. He was host of several cooking programs, including "Louisiana Cookin'."

He was utterly unpretentious, and refused to let mistakes be edited out of his shows or to let canned laughter be added, said Carl Fry, who produced all of his Louisiana Public Broadcasting shows.

"He would say, 'I'll tell a joke. If they like it, they like it,' " Fry said.

He referred to himself as JOOS-tain and became known for the expression: "I ga-ron-tee!" (guarantee), from the Cajun "J'vous garantis."

"Cajun cooking is the ability to take what you have and create a good dish and season it right," Wilson told The Associated Press in 1990.

"It isn't all that hard, but so few people know how to take what they have and put it together and season it properly," he said. "It's creative cooking -- that's all it is."

"I am a gourmet, but I am more of a gourmand," he explained. "A gourmet is somebody that's an epicurean. But a gourmand is somebody that's a P-I-G hog and that's what I am."

A native of Amite, Louisiana, Wilson had lived in Summit, Mississippi, for about six years, his daughter said.

His last syndicated series of shows was titled "Easy Cooking."

Wilson called himself a "half-bleed" Cajun. His father was Louisiana's commissioner of agriculture for 32 years, and his mother, Olivet, was Louisiana French. She taught him how to cook.

"She was a great improviser," Wilson said. "She'd cook a dish and we'd go 'Mama, w'at's this here, hanh?' And she'd say, 'Children, that's a mus-go. It mus' go down yo' t'roat.' "

Some Cajuns found his fractured language annoying, but Wilson insisted he didn't mean to ridicule. He said his critics were "people who take themselves too seriously."

Originally a safety engineer, he was inspired to pursue a career in public speaking after he met Will Rogers in the 1930s.

"He told me always to tell 'em clean, and always tell your audience something serious -- or they'll think you're a complete fool," he recalled.

Besides Easterly, survivors include two other daughters, eight grandchildren, two stepgrandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.

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Some people are stupid.
Some are full of shit.
Some people are FUCKIN' nuts.
Most people are all three.

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'...that's a mus-go. It mus' go down yo' t'roat.' "

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Care?

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Some people are stupid.
Some are full of shit.
Some people are FUCKIN' nuts.
Most people are all three.

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LMAO though, I think I just found my replacement for ice cream:

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Message to those concerned with my smoking habit.... mamma didn't raise no quitter.

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No, obviously you don't. But thanks for contributing.

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...APPEARING LIVE ON JUDGE JUDY... HOO HOO ROBIN, I INVENTED ATTENTION WHORES HOO HOO
I WAS BI WHEN BEING BI WASN'T KEWL
DON'T UNDER ESTIMATE THE PSYCHO FACTOR IN MY HEAD

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How do I feel? Depreshawwwwwn.
Will he be buried? No... Cremashawwwnn.
Still on PBS? No chance for Syndicashawwwwn.

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Message to those concerned with my smoking habit.... mamma didn't raise no quitter.

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NJStrawberry wrote:

Care?

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Kid A wrote:

No, obviously you don't. But thanks for contributing.

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NJStrawbverry wrote:

Awwwww you're welcome;)

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Graduated by Arthur Dent.
What makes you think you know? Why do you bother trying to figure things out? - KA

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I grew up in New Orleans, and still consider it to be "home". I've watched this guy on TV since I was a little kid. RIP and Godspeed you crazy Coon-Ass...

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The origin of the term is said to have come from the French word "conasse". During the Second World War, many Cajun men served in the armed forces. When in France, many of the French heard the Cajuns speaking in a French that was both very old and in a French that had some very odd words. The Frenchmen called the Cajuns "conasse" which translates to a very low-grade prostitute. I would think this comes from the fact that, although they spoke a form of French, the Cajuns weren't real Frenchmen.
Of course, the "American" servicemen heard "conasse" as "CoonAss". In a world where "RedNeck" is heard often, "CoonAss" fits right in. Just like RedNeck, it wasn't originally used as a term of endearment. But many Cajuns carry it as a description of themselves as good as any other. In Louisiana, you can find vehicles with bumper stickers reading "Registered CoonAss" or "I'm a CoonAss, Me!"

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Graduated by Arthur Dent.
What makes you think you know? Why do you bother trying to figure things out? - KA

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How does one measure a "full life"? By years served? Experience? Or Both?

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