Lavergne was born in October 28, 1955[1]Church Point, Louisiana, son of Nolan and Bobbie Lavergne. He attended Church Point High School and graduated in 1973. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in social studies education and a master's in education at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. In 1988, he earned an education specialist degree in educational administration and supervision from McNeese State University.[2] He was a social studies teacher, held administrative positions for both the SAT and the ACT[2] college entrance exam companies, and in between jobs performed stand-up comedy.[citation needed] He worked for the College Board traveling to universities helping administrators understand the SAT. [2]
Lavergne retired as director of admissions research for the University of Texas in 2019.[3]
Among Lavergne's books is 1997's A Sniper in the Tower about the 1966 shooting rampage of Charles Whitman,[4] which according to a 2007 Associated Press article is "considered the definitive account of the massacre"[5] and to Frank Rich in a 1997 The New York Times piece is "the authoritative account of the Whitman case".[4] He decided to write the book after watching a TV special on mass murder, realizing that there had never been a book published about the shooting.[2]
His 2003 book Worse Than Death: The Dallas Nightclub Murders and the Texas Multiple Murder Law discusses the 1984 Dallas nightclub shooting, perpetrated by Abdelkrim Belachheb.[6][7][8][9][10]
^Baker, T. Lindsay (2006). "Worse Than Death: The Dallas Nightclub Murders and the Texas Multiple Murder Law". Legacies. 18 (1): 62–63. ISSN1071-0426.
^Ellis, Mark (2005). "Worse Than Death: The Dallas Nightclub Murders and the Texas Multiple Murder Law". Journal of the West. 44 (1): 108–109. ISSN0022-5169.
^McDonald, Archie P. (September 2004). "Worse Than Death ( Book)". East Texas Historical Journal. 42 (2): 89–90. ISSN0424-1444.