With the unfortunate passing yesterday of Al Copeland, the founder of Popeyes Chicken, New Orleans has lost a true legend. He died in Munich, Germany where he was seeking treatment for a rare form of cancer.
Copeland was a larger than life personality and everything he did was extravagant. His Christmas displays were the biggest in town. His speedboats and race cars were the fastest. He enjoyed incredible success in the business world and eventually amassed a fortune of several hundred million dollars.
In his personal life, he lavished millions on extravagant weddings, but went through several high profile divorces. Yet, Copeland was able to overcome setbacks such as his divorces and bankruptcy and was able to succeed in an extraordinary way.
Not bad for a man who never graduated from high school and who was born in the St. Thomas housing projects.What separated Copeland from so many others in the business world was his incredible desire to succeed. His drive was on display as a young man when he was testing his famous chicken recipes. Eventually, he started a stand alone Popeyes store in Arabi and the rest is history.
Copeland was an amazing entrepreneur who did not rest on his laurels and was always working to expand his business empire. At the time of his death, he was testing new concepts for restaurants and planning the next phase of his business.
New Orleans seems to be a fertile territory for producing colorful and legendary figures like Al Copeland. It is hard to imagine Al Copeland as part of any other community but New Orleans. It is also difficult to imagine New Orleans without Al Copeland, a person who will be sorely missed.
Jeff Crouere is a native of New Orleans, LA and he is the host of a Louisiana based program, “Ringside Politics,” which airs at 7:30 p.m. Fri. and 10:00 p.m. Sun. on WLAE-TV 32, a PBS station, and 7 till 11 a.m. weekdays on WGSO 990 AM in New Orleans and the Northshore. For more information, visit his web site at www.ringsidepolitics.com. E-mail him at jeff@ringsidepolitics.com.
Al was great. I loved his short, sweet comment when Anne Rice was attacking him for her publicity stunts. "BITE ME" - No better come back for someone who believed vampires. Written by rougeneck
on 3/24/2008
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I'm going to Popeyes in rememberance of AL today! Written by Tony G
on 3/24/2008
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With the unfortunate passing yesterday of Al Copeland, the founder of Popeyes Chicken, 
