The novel is based on the life of Kenneth Toncrey, a famous French Quarter character better known as Daisy Mae. Originally from Mississippi, Daisy Mae was forced to leave Biloxi under something of a cloud after her affair with the son of a prominent businessman was exposed.
Daisy arrived in New Orleans in the mid-1960s and rented an apartment in the French Quarter. For a while, Daisy Mae owned a gift shop, was a regular at the legendary The Finale bar on Royal Street, and worked as a bouncer at Café Lafitte in Exile.
She served as the first Queen of the Krewe of Apollo at their debut ball in 1970. She founded La Krewe Mystique de Desime at the St. Bernard Civic Center in Chalmette in 1975 and 1976 and, according to Carnival historian Howard P. Smith, at the Superdome in 1977.
