Noel E. Parmentel, Jr., was a leading figure on the New York political journalism, literary, and cultural scene during the 20th century. Born in 1926 in Algiers (now a part of greater New Orleans), Parmentel attended Tulane University after WW II service in the US Marine Corps, and migrated to New York in the 1950s. There he quickly became a prominent fixture in literary circles and in political journalism, "the tall, shambling New Orleans freelance pundit," known for his witty essays, usually targeting those he considered "phonies," be they of the left or the right. "Anyone who knew anything about New York then knew Noel," wrote Dan Wakefield in New York in the Fifties, describing Parmentel's making "a fine art of the ethnic insult," dining out on his "reputation for outrageousness," and