About your host...

The photography and feature articles of Ray Ruiz have been widely published,
in local publications, as well as in literary and travel journals around the world,
including Genre in the U.S., England's Rouge, Australia's Campaign, Germany's
Manner-Aktuell and Du und Ich, Sweden's Reporter, the magazine of international
travel Our World, and in publications in Holland, Scotland, Ireland and Denmark.

A local of French and Spanish heritage, Ray graduated from St. Joseph's Seminary,
attended University of New Orleans and the Sorbonne in Paris, graduating with a B.A.
in Philosophy and English from LSU in 1970. He earned his M.S. degree in Psychology
from Golden Gate University in San Francisco in 1987.

During his San Francisco sojurn, he managed his own downtown art gallery,
directed college recruiting and management hiring for AT in the 13 Western states
for 22 years, and ran a popular guest house in San Francisco's colorful Castro District.

Since his return to New Orleans, Ray authored a weekly column Fascinatin' Rhythm
while selling antique houses for a living. He enjoys promoting the local
laid-back, Bohemian lifestyle, local architecture, and is currently enrolled at the
New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts in the painting program.