Who was Mike Roccaforte?

  Every city has its characters, and New Orleans certainly has its share. But even in a city full of characters, Mike Roccaforte stood out.

  To describe him as a restaurateur and bar owner wouldn't do him justice; he was a force to be reckoned with. His seat of power was the Irish Channel and his bar on St. Mary Street — the Half Moon. There was nothing fancy about the Half Moon, but all kinds of folks gathered there to eat boiled crabs, drink Jax beer and discuss politics.

  In 1965, Roccaforte branched out, adding a restaurant across the street. In his Fisherman's Wharf Restaurant on Sophie Wright Place, guests sat at tables covered with white linen cloths, drank wine and discussed politics.

  In 1963, Roccaforte founded the Uptown Democratic Association next door to the Half Moon. The group had planned a parade on Nov. 22 but canceled it. That was the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas.

  Each election, the organization selected candidates to support, printed sample ballots, distributed them and bought ads in the local morning and afternoon newspapers. The group began small, but exercised a powerful influence for years in the 10th, 11th and 12th wards.

  The list of famous politicians supported by Roccaforte and his organization is noteworthy: the late Congressman Hale Boggs and his wife, former Congresswoman Lindy Boggs; the late Mayor Chep Morrison and his son, Toni; former District Attorney Jim Garrison and four-term former Governor Edwin Edwards. Judges were not left out either. Among the judges Roccaforte took credit for helping were Lambert Hassinger, William Byrnes, Frank Marullo, James McKay, Eddie Sapir and Frank Shea.

  The Uptown Democratic Association used a simple process. A major candidate might pay up to $10,000 for expenses for the group's support; others might pay a smaller amount and some paid nothing at all. The organization would back its candidate regardless. In the 1960s and '70s, there were always political hopefuls courting Roccaforte at either his restaurant or bar. Edwin Edwards was a frequent visitor.

  Roccaforte was a popular guy and carried with him a list of telephone numbers of office holders who could grant favors. All he had to do was call.

  Two of New Orleans' marching clubs honored Roccaforte by making him grand marshal. In 1971, he led the St. Joseph Italian Marching Club Parade, and in 1984 he was at the front of Jim Monaghan's Decatur Street Irish Parade.

  Roccaforte became very popular in 1985, when he worked actively to repeal a state law that raised the beverage tax from 9 percent to 14 percent. He went to Baton Rouge to support a bill Mary Landrieu introduced to repeal the tax. Roccaforte spoke out for the small business owners and won.

  He was most proud, however, of his efforts to save St. Mary's Assumption Church in the Irish Channel, the church of his childhood. When St. Mary's Assumption was scheduled to be demolished in 1971, Roccaforte, as president of the St. Mary's Preservation Society, helped raise $1.4 million to rescue the old church.

  Roccaforte eventually retired to the New Orleanian apartments on St. Charles Avenue. Even then, at age 82, he took elderly residents of the community to register and to vote.

  Michael Anthony Roccaforte died on Sept. 21, 1997, at age 83. His funeral Mass was celebrated at St. Mary's Assumption, of course.