Raymond “La La” Lalonde gave this 1979 photo to his mother, Marie Lanclos Lalonde, after being elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives. (Submitted photo via The Advocate)
I think I knew LaLa Lalonde for a year or more before I knew his real name. He was a member of the legislature when I met him, but I don’t think I ever heard him introduce himself as “Raymond” or “Representative Lalonde.”
He introduced himself simply. “Hi, I’m LaLa,” sometimes in French. That said a lot about who he was.
He was a brilliant man with degrees in physics, math, foreign languages and…
