“For New Orleans,” Wendy Rodrigue’s reflection on the state of New Orleans, illustrated with photos by George Rodrigue and Tony Bernard.

Submitted for your approval is "The Persistence of Memory…". The one-pager was "commissioned" by A.D. character Leo McGovern, who recently published Feast, an anthology of comics by New Orleanians and a few invited others, like Caesar Meadows, Happy Burbeck, and Jeff Pastorek; as well as out-of-towners like Josh Simmons and myself. You can buy a copy here.

As Leo wrote when he invited me to contribute, "the only thing we ask is that if you’re not currently living in the New Orleans area, your cartoon would be about New Orleans or something New Orleans-related." I welcomed the chance to revisit New Orleans in my comics—especially now that the 5th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina is looming.
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What looks like an amazing one-woman play about New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina will debut next week at the New York Fringe Festival. Written by Mari Brown, 23 Feet in 12 Minutes: The Death and Rebirth of New Orleans follows six real-life New Orleans characters whose lives were irrevocably changed by the storm. Their raw and poignant stories are based on over sixty interviews conducted with Katrina survivors and New Orleans transplants. All six characters are brought to life by actress (and real-life post-Katrina volunteer) Deanna Pacelli, and directed by David Travis.

Sounds like Dan Baum mixed with The Civilians mixed with Anna Deavere-Smith (with maybe a little A.D. thrown in)! I can’t wait.
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Similarities between the Hurricane Katrina tragedy and the BP oil spill are, distressingly, many. One of the most striking echoes are the two men ostensibly in charge of the disasters, Michael Brown and Tony Hayward. In a fit of pique last weekend, I drew a little something about the two executives and their glazed, disassociated stares. In the coming weeks, I hope to check in with some of A.D.’s subjects to get their sense of things five years down the road from Katrina and eight weeks down the road from BP.

I’ve created a new category in the A.D. Links and Resources section: Relief Organizations. It’s a list of nonprofits working in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. Many of them have specific programs related to the BP oil spill. Check ‘em out now, and do what you can to help.