Saxon was born on September 4, 1891, either in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, or in New Whatcom, Washington, now incorporated into Bellingham, Washington, while his mother was traveling away from home; the early history of his life is "as evasive as the histories that frustrated Saxon in writing Old Louisiana". The confusion is based on Saxon's alleging he was born in Baton Rouge, but his birth certificate states New Whatcom, Washington. It is possible that his parents, from distinguished families with connections to Baton Rouge and New Orleans, were unmarried, although the birth certificate lists the birth as "legitimate"; Saxon said little about his background and early years, and never met his father. He was raised, however, in Baton Rouge, and made frequent trips to New Orleans throughout his early life, where his paternal uncle and grandmother lived. Saxon moved to New Orleans not long after college in 1914 or 1915 and, after moving again several times, settled there permanently in 1918. Saxon lived in the French Quarter at 612 Royal St. starting in 1918; Sherwood Anderson, William Faulkner, Roark Bradford, and Edmund Wilson visited. He was an ardent student of the history of New Orleans and wrote six books on the subject. His most popular titles include "Fabulous New Orleans" recounting the city's celebrated past as set against his memories of his first Mardi Gras during the turn of the 20th century: "Gumbo Ya-Ya", an amazing and absolutely marvelous compilation of native folk stories from Louisiana, including the Loup Garou and the Lalaurie House: and "Old Louisiana", a local bestseller from its introduction in 1929. Saxon's fiction included short stories: "Cane River" was published in The Dial magazine edited by Marianne Moore, and "The Centaur Plays Croquet" was included in the American Caravan anthology in 1927. His 1937 novel Children of Strangers sold well. He was a director to the Federal Writers' Project, WPA guide to Louisiana. He is buried at Magnolia Cemetery.
Legacy
Contemporary historians of the cityrely heavily on Saxon's works for reference. In 1986, M.A. Houston wrote a Master of Arts-degree thesis, "The Shadow of Africa on the Cane: An Examination of Africanisms in the Fiction of Lyle Saxon and Ada Jack Carver." Ada Jack Carver Snell of Minden was another Louisiana author who wrote about the Cane River country of her native Natchitoches Parish.
