Please join us at the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame and Northwest Louisiana History Museum as legendary high school coach and 2018 Louisiana Sports hall of Fame inductee Lewis Cook and author Gaylon H. White discuss their new book “Coach of a Lifetime: The Story of Lewis Cook Jr., Legendary High School Football Coach.”

You would be hard pressed to find anyone who doesn’t think the world of Coach Cook, head coach at Notre Dame High School in Acadiana Parish since 1997. The title of the book, Coach of a Lifetime, comes from a Heisman-like trophy given to Coach Cook by Orlando Thomas, an All-Pro safety for the Minnesota Vikings, who played for Cook in both high school and college. “Thanks for your Support, Love, Honesty and Friendship,” the statuette reads. 

Born and raised in Rayne, Louisiana, Cook’s career has spanned a mere 30-mile stretch of Interstate 10 between Crowley and Lafayette, but the number of lives he has touched is countless. The 2025 season will be his 52nd year in coaching, 41st as a head coach at three high schools in Acadiana Parish – Rayne, Crowley, and Notre Dame. Overall, his teams have won 407 games and five state titles, the first at Crowley in 1989 and the others at Notre Dame. 

Gaylon White is the author of six books, including Coach of a Lifetime – The Story of Lewis Cook., Legendary High School Football Coach. White previously wrote the Best Little Baseball Town in the World about the Crowley Millers and the Evangeline League; Left On Base in the Bush Leagues; Singles and Smiles; The Bilko Athletic Club; and Handsome Ransom Jackson: Accidental Big Leaguer. All were published by Rowman & Littlefield. The Los Angeles-born White graduated in 1967 from the University of Oklahoma with a bachelor’s degree in journalism-broadcasting. He was a sportswriter for the Denver Post, Arizona Republic, and Oklahoma Journal before working in the corporate world for nearly 40 years. White and his wife, Mary, live in Kingsport, Tennessee. 

Free and open to the public. 

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