Three different author events focusing on Hurricane Katrina books will occur in August 2019 at the East Bank Regional Library, 4747 W. Napoleon, Metairie.
7
p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2019
Painting
Katrina,
Phil Sandusky
In
the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Sandusky returned home and began
recording the devastation. The result is a collection that offers a vision of
the beauty and fragility of New Orleans and displays the awesome power of
nature. The book contains 76 color reproductions: 30 created a year before
Katrina; 30 in the aftermath of the storm, focusing primarily on scenes at the
lakefront and the Lower Ninth Ward; and the last 16 painted one year after
Katrina, showing the city’s recovery. Sandusky prefaces the paintings with
background about his style and a journal chronicling his experience.
Sandusky
has been a New Orleans resident since 1984. His works are in the permanent
collections of the New Orleans Museum of Art, Louisiana State Museum, Historic
New Orleans Collections, and museums in Jacksonville, Fla., Framingham, Mass.,
New York, and Umbria, Italy. Sandusky teaches landscape, figure and portrait
painting at the New Orleans Academy of Fine Art.
7
p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2019
Coast
Guard Heroes of New Orleans, Captain Robert Mueller (ret.)
Mueller’s
premise is that “With disaster scenarios of increasing interest and disaster
preparedness of paramount importance, it’s time to take a deeper look at what
went very right before, during, and after Hurricane Katrina.” The unprecedented
surface rescue put into action under Capt. Mueller took place with little
fanfare, and saved the lives of 25,000 people by boat and 8,500 by helicopter.
Capt.
Robert G. Mueller, U.S. Coast Guard (ret.) led the surface rescue operations in
the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. He retired after 30 years in the service
and is the vice president for compliance at Turn Services, a towboat and
fleeting company. He is an adjunct professor at Tulane University teaching
Homeland Security in the graduate program.
7
p.m., Thursday, Aug. 29, 2019
Panel
– John Batty, Laura Dragon and Mikel Schaeffer
Voices
of Angels, John Batty
Throughout
the devastating winds, rising waters, and August heat, nurses stuck by their
patients. They improvised new emergency procedures and methods of
record-keeping and patient transport, all without power or reliable
information. These angels saved lives while their world fell apart around them. Voices of Angels is a case study and planning
guide essential for facilities facing hurricanes, tornadoes, power outages, and
a host of other issues that affect medical centers nationwide.
John
R. Batty is an experienced psychiatric nurse who interviewed the nurses who
treated patients during and after Hurricane Katrina. He and co-author Gail
Tumulty presented the nurses’ experiences at an American Nurses’ Association
conference. Batty’s research into hospital conditions and evacuations gave him
unparalleled experience in disaster management. Batty, a former writer for
First NBC Bank, lives and works in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Hurricane
Boy,
Laura Dragon
Hollis
Williams is a middle-school student in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans. His
father absent and his mother dead, Hollis and his siblings live with his
grandmother. He dreams of reconnecting with his father, but Hurricane Katrina
strikes and devastates his home and his plans. The young boy’s family is
trapped on the roof of their house, waiting to be rescued. When help finally
arrives, Hollis and his family are separated and sent hundreds of miles apart.
Laura
Dragon is a psychotherapist who works with children and adolescents at River
Oaks Hospital in New Orleans. Her work with children who were separated from
their families during Hurricane Katrina formed the genesis of Hurricane
Boy. Dragon earned a master of arts degree in addictions counseling, and a
master of social work degree from Tulane University.
Lost
in Katrina, Mikel Schaeffer
This
book offers emotional accounts of life before, during and immediately after
Hurricane Katrina in St. Bernard, a parish that seemingly disappeared from the
government’s sight. While President Bush was shaking hands with FEMA director
Michael Browne on the fourth day after the storm, St. Bernard Parish residents
were struggling to salvage what they could. Ordinary people did extraordinary things to save the parish that found itself almost completely submerged in
floodwater.
Mikel
Schaefer spent his early years in St. Bernard Parish and graduated from the
University of New Orleans. He is an executive producer at WWL-TV, the CBS
affiliate in New Orleans. He was among the staff honored for broadcast coverage
during Hurricane Katrina, and WWL-TV was awarded the 2005 George Foster Peabody
Award, one of only four television stations in the nation to be honored.
Louisiana Book News is written by award-winning author Chere Dastugue Coen, who writes Louisiana romances and mysteries under the pen name of Cherie Claire. Her first book in each series is FREE to download as an ebook, including "Emilie," book one of The Cajun Series, "Ticket to Paradise," book one of The Cajun Embassy series and "A Ghost of a Chance," the first Viola Valentine mystery.
Louisiana Book News is written by award-winning author Chere Dastugue Coen, who writes Louisiana romances and mysteries under the pen name of Cherie Claire. Her first book in each series is FREE to download as an ebook, including "Emilie," book one of The Cajun Series, "Ticket to Paradise," book one of The Cajun Embassy series and "A Ghost of a Chance," the first Viola Valentine mystery.
