For the first time since 1967, the Endymion parade will roll without the earthly presence of Ed Muniz, who died last May after several years of declining health. It just so happens this year’s Endymion parade falls on Muniz’s birthday. Before his death, Muniz was the longest serving Krewe captain in Carnival history. If there was a Mount Rushmore of Mardi Gras, Muniz would be included.
“Ed was one of the most influential individuals in the history of Mardi Gras, because he was a visionary. He was always focused on making it bigger and better. Some people may criticize the bigger part because you don’t have to be supersized to be a super krewe, but I don’t think he ever did it at the expense of quality. It’s the model for super krewes, and it didn’t start out as one. It started out as a neighborhood parade which rented Carrollton floats, but he saw the Bacchus and he said oh yeah, I can do that better. You can argue which parade is bigger and better, but he morphed them from a neighborhood parade into a super krewe in one year and the rest is history,” said Arthur Hardy, founder of Arthur Hardy’s Mardi Gras Guide.
Dan Kelly was the long-time president of the Krewe of Endymion and was elected as Krewe Captain after the Muniz’s passing. I spoke with Kelly at the Krewe’s den in New Orleans a few days ahead of the parade. Kelly told me this year’s parade will be emotional. His relationship with Muniz goes back to the early 1970s.
“I was riding in another parade, and I was supposed to have 24 people riding with me. I was in college at Loyola. Instead of putting the 24 guys on two or three floats, they put two guys on 12 different floats. I was on the payphone at the Municipal Auditorium, and I was putting nickels in the payphone calling everybody telling them what happened. This guy taps me on the shoulder. I said, look I got a lot of phone calls to make, if you want to use the phone you can use it. He said, I want to introduce myself my name is Ed Muniz, I’m the captain of Endymion and those guys did you wrong. He used other words other than they did you wrong, but he said if you can get six guys next year, I guarantee you that you’ll have your own float with Endymion,” Dan Kelly told me.
Kelly ended up riding with Endymion and Muniz made him an officer in the Krewe in 1970. Kelly says he has a special tribute for Muniz that he’s been holding secret for many months. Kelly will unveil that tribute when the Krewe of Endymion rolls on February 10th. The theme of this year’s Endymion parade is Silents Are Golden…a tribute to the silent movies in Hollywood history.
Muniz’s influence was felt outside the realm of Mardi Gras. He owned several radio stations, eventually making a healthy chunk of money when he sold them. Muniz also was a prominent politician for 28 years in Jefferson Parish where he held office on the Jefferson Parish Council, the Kenner City Council and also as Mayor of Kenner. That’s quite a resume, but Jim Hanzo, son-in-law to Muniz and an Endymion board member says Muniz’s legacy will be that of a Mardi Gras giant.
“He always said I did great in radio, I did wonderful in politics, but people are going to remember me as the captain of Endymion that’s what they’re going to remember me for. That’s really what it’s going to be about,” Hanzo told me.
Listen to the podcast here.