Some thoughts .... Hurricane Katrina

For the last few days, I have been watching television coverage of the disaster along the Gulf Coast. It is frightening. The loss of life and of material goods is so distressing. I work at a bookstore - and wonder about the bookstores in New Orleans. Did any survive? How about the libraries and archives, the old movie theaters, and historic buildings? Along with life itself, these are some of the material / cultural things I hold dear. So many of the cities hit by Hurricane Katrina and mentioned on the news are familar to me - New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Meridian, Mississippi are all cities visited by Louise Brooks when she was a member of the Denishawn Dance Company. By some strange coincidence, at the library today I looked at microfilm of the Baton Rouge State Times, where I found a bunch of Denishawn material from 1924. The lending institution was Louisiana State University. I wonder if these mere microfilm rolls have a dry home to go back to? My thoughts are with those in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama (including members of the LBS and a few dear friends - namely Tim & Laura Dwyer, who live in New Orleans) who have suffered through this awful event. I hope you are safe.