A guide by Andrew Parodi

Heartbroken and Shocked

Along with the rest of the country and much of the world, I was heartbroken and shocked by the devastation of Katrina. Heartbroken to see so much of the beautiful city destroyed and so many residents wounded and/or killed, and shocked by how delayed and incompetent was the official response from the government.

Luckily, many private citizens and groups have picked up the slack of the government incompetence and have donated vasts sums of money for aid and rebuilding. Halfvalue.com has set up a donation page, with $12,384,957.36 being raised as of this writing.

My great grand father, James Hennessy, was born in New Orleans. My cousin lived in New Orleans. Last I heard, he did not know of the whereabouts of his children and wife. He thinks they were sent to that dreadful dome that was converted into a shelter, and they may have been shipped to Texas.

And though I had never been to New Orleans, I had dreamed of one day visiting. It's sad to know that so many have been hurt or killed, and it's sad to know that the city I had dreamed of visiting has been so greatly damaged.

The City of New Orleans

'New Orleans : A Photographic Tour (Photographic Tour Series)'

'Why New Orleans Matters'

'New Orleans (Citylife Pictorial Guides)'

'New Orleans: The Making of an Urban Landscape'

'Lonely Planet New Orleans (Lonely Planet New Orleans)'

'Frommer's New Orleans 2005 (Frommer's Complete)'

'Majesty of New Orleans (Majesty Architecture Series)'

'The Rough Guide to New Orleans'

'New Orleans (Eyewitness Travel Guides)'

'Streetwise New Orleans (National & International Titles)'

The French Quarter

'The French Quarter: An Informal History of the New Orleans Underworld'

Author Anne Rice

"Why did America ask a city cherished by millions and excoriated by some, but ignored by no one, to fight for its own life for so long? That's my question," Rice wrote in a New York Times op-ed days after Katrina struck New Orleans. "You want our Jazz Fest, you want our Mardi Gras, you want our cooking and our music," she continued. "Then when you saw us in real trouble, when you saw a tiny minority preying on the weak among us, you called us `Sin City,' and turned your backs."

Anne Rice is the author of the following novels, many of which are set in New Orleans:

'Interview with the Vampire'

'A. N. Roquelaure Box Set'

'Memnoch the Devil (Vampire Chronicles, No 5)'

'Christ the Lord : Out of Egypt'

'The Witching Hour (Lives of the Mayfair Witches)'

Harry Connick JR.

'Only You'

'Songs I Heard'

'We Are in Love'

'Blue Light, Red Light'

'30'

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