Sheila Stroup

Sheila T. Stroup (born 1943, Covington, Louisiana) is a "Living" section columnist for the New Orleans Times-Picayune. Her column, rather than dealing with the celebrated news events of the day, invariably has to do with perceptions of the otherwise-unnoticed aspects of life, particularly in her native Northshore Region. Part of her style is to refer to her husband Merwin by his surname alone, Stroup.[1]

A frequent topic for Sheila Stroup is dogs.[2] In 1999 her dog Harry was elected Grand Duke in the Canine Court of the Mystic Krewe of Mardi Paws.[3]

Stroup was a featured speaker on the 1996 Business Week program at Southeastern Louisiana University, of which she is alumna. For her fundraising efforts to benefit charitable and not-for-profit organizations, in 2004 Stroup received the Will Rogers Humanitarian Award from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists.[4]

In 2009 Stroup was chosen by fellow columnist Chris Rose to serve as the addressee for a series of fictitious e-mails about yet another columnist, Angus Lind, as Rose parodied New Orleans City Councilwoman Stacy Head's e-mails about fellow Councilwoman Jacquelyn Brechtel Clarkson and other subjects.[5]

Stroup and her husband, who live near the village of Folsom (which is on LA 25 due north of Covington), have two grown daughters.