Remembering Dario Fo, Joan Marie Johnson and the Dixie Cups, LSU’s Mike the Tiger

Dario Fo, the left-wing Italian actor-playwright, won the 1997 Nobel Prize for Literature. He poked fun at society’s conventions and was best known for his 1970 play, Accidental Death of an Anarchist. Joan Marie Johnson was the founder of the Dixie Cups, one of the 1960’s best-known girl groups. Their 1964 hit, “Chapel of Love”, went to #1 and they became the first American group to displace the Beatles during the initial British Invasion. Mike the Tiger was the sixth tiger mascot for Louisiana State University. He lived outside the stadium in a $3 million habitat, and he was one of the most visited tourist attractions in Baton Rouge.