A.D.

Ninth Ward Sunday

A.D., Travel

[Wherein I continue my rundown of the A.D. book tour, picking up in New Orleans on August 23, 2009]

My last full day in NOLA was mostly a day off. Sari & I started with a room service breakfast (one perk of the book tour) and then headed over to Beth’s Books, a small store located in the Marigny/Upper Ninth Ward area. Leo came along again as well, but I was most glad to see A.D. character Denise, who drove down from Baton Rouge (where she often stays on the weekends to spend time with her grand-nephews) for the day. It was great to finally introduce her to Sari and to see her in person again after more than a year. She was looking great, and is doing really good work as a Ford Foundation fellow. The crowd at Beth’s Books was similar in spirit to that of Maple Street Books the day before, and by the end of the event we had sold out all their copies.

From there, Sari and I drove a little bit around the Lower Ninth Ward, where some of the worst flooding occurred. That was an eye-opener. I had known that large parts of the area were still empty and abandoned, but I wasn’t prepared for the desolate, overgrown reality. Block after block of wild grasses, overgrown bushes, and trees, with one or two occupied houses dotting the wilderness. Intersections that were so overgrown you couldn’t see the street signs or stop signs. Occasionally a mowed plot of land with just the empty concrete slab where the house used to be. It was all quite shocking, and left us wondering how this once vibrant community of long-time residents could ever be brought back. (After all, four years down the line, many former residents have re-settled — whether by choice or circumstance — in other cities.)

We also happened by the Ninth Ward headquarters of Common Ground Relief, an organization I’ve been raising money for by having fundraisers and selling A.D. prints. Even though it was a Sunday afternoon, Director Thom Pepper was there, keeping shop, as well as an assortment of dedicated volunteers. Thom showed us around a little and told us in detail some of Common Ground’s projects: gutting and rebuilding houses, and working on wetland restoration, hoping to revitalize the natural surrounding flood barriers. Common Ground is good people.

Some shots of our tour of the Ninth Ward:

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Poynter Institute points to A.D. and The Influencing Machine

A.D., Influencing Machine, Publicity

Mallary Jean Tenore of the Poynter Institute for Media Studies just posted a comprehensive look at "comics journalism" using two of my projects as models. Tenore’s piece, "Journalists, Artists Tell Stories with Nonfiction Graphic Novels," looks at the potential for using comics as a journalism tool, and she talked extensively to me and my Influencing Machine collaborator Brooke Gladstone in doing it. I discuss my process as a "reporter" and then artist in doing A.D., and then how that process will shift in working with Brooke. And Brooke has some very insightful things to say about writing as a journalist and then learning to write for comics.

The Poynter Institute is a school and journalism resource institue located in St. Petersburg, Florida, They’re the parent company of the St. Petersburg Times and Congressional Quarterly, and also publish Jim Romenesko’s media insider blog. Check out the piece if you’re interested in such things.

The Doctor Lets the Good Times Roll

A.D., Publicity, Travel

After reuniting Saturday evening with Sari back at our French Quarter hotel, we headed over to Doctor Lutz’s (A.D. character “The Doctor”) home for a cocktail party. He had gone all-out in preparation for the shindig, hiring an event planner and ordering 50 copies of A.D. to give out to guests (in addition to the 25 donated by Pantheon). The event planner had images of the Doctor from the book printed onto the hors d’oeuvre serving trays!

The party was everything I would have thought it would be given the host and location — a savory gumbo of New Orleans upper crust society, libertines, and eccentrics — with a politician thrown in the mix. (Edwin Murray, a 2010 candidate for mayor, was there, and Dr. Lutz had me sign his book “To the next mayor of New Orleans.”) In addition to the Doctor and his dogs Kip and Rose (both of whom also appear in A.D.), also present were A.D. characters Leo & Michelle, as well as the Doctor’s partner Ken Combs, and Ken Colditch and Edwin Curry, who all make brief appearances at the Doctor’s house during his “hurricane party”. And of course SMITH editor Larry Smith, who made a very gracious toast to the Doctor. There was copious food and drink, and a barefoot “gypsy band” playing fiddles and a washboard, that Dr. Lutz had pulled off the streets in Jackson Square. People lingered late into the night, spread out around the pool, at the back yard tables, and in the Doctor’s sitting room.

About halfway through the festivities, I was again sat down at a table to sign books. Again it was a long string of great encounters with amazingly gracious and grateful people. I was thanked again and again for telling the story of Katrina and keeping it in the public eye. (It only occurs to me now, four years after the storm, that much of the rest of the country really has “moved on” from Katrina and doesn’t spend some portion of every day thinking about the hurricane and its effect on New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.) Nonetheless, in the midst of that crowd, I did feel a little bit like some kind of curious creature on display for the evening — “Come see the funny Brooklyn cartoonist!” — but I soaked it up regardless.

By evening’s end, the Doctor was slumped against his couch with assorted hangers-on, at least “three or four sheets to the wind,” as Leo so eloquently put it. After my long day, I was beat, and Sari & I called it a night.

I found out the next day that the band went skinny-dipping in the Doctor’s pool; when I mentioned it to him later he drawled, “That’s fine, because they needed a bath.”

Dr. Lutz, yours truly, and Leo
The Doctor, yours truly, and Leo

“To Marta, my Life Raft”

A.D., Travel

[Wherein I continue my rundown of the A.D. book tour, picking up in New Orleans on August 22, 2009]

Saturday in New Orleans was a breathless chain of events, where I met what seemed like the full gamut of my New Orleanian readers. All in all, it was an amazing, profound experience.

The day started with picking up Sari at the airport, as she finally made it to town after being waylaid by Hurricane Bill. We drove straight from the airport to the Garden District, where I signed some stock (appropriately enough) at the Garden District Book Shop. From there we drove over to Maple Street Book Shop (also in the Garden District), a wonderful, winding bookstore situated in a former residence. The folks at Maple Street were very welcoming and appreciative of my coming there.

A.D. character Leo McGovern met us at Maple Street and signed copies as well. We signed for a couple of hours as a steady stream of readers came by, including my New York friend (and long-time, dedicated A.D. supporter) Anne Heausler, who hails from NOLA and was in town for the weekend. (Later, she and Sari and Anne’s friend Barbara, who lost EVERYTHING in the storm, went off together for lunch.) All in all, it was a pleasant time, and I was happy with the way things were going. After my initial fear that the book might be greeted by indifference or derision by the residents of New Orleans — it is a comic book, after all, about the devastation of Hurricane Katrina — I felt reassured. People were welcoming and even grateful to have their story being told. The Maple Street signing was a nice opportunity to meet my “readers” and hear their own stories of flooding, evacuation, and rebuilding.

Leo headed off to a conference, so I drove solo over to Octavia Books for the last signing of the day. I arrived at the store a little early and walked in, ready to introduce myself to the manager and get myself settled for another sedate session. To my extreme surprise, there were over twenty people waiting on line for me! I was hustled over to a table and set down to sign books. From that point on it was a continuous sequence of autographing copies of A.D. I tried my best to exchange at least a couple of words with each person as they appeared in front of me, but the line was so long that I had difficulty doing even that. One of those on line I did get a chance to meet and (give my thanks to) was Susan Larson, the Times-Picayune’s book editor, who had written a very complimentary piece about the book in the paper earlier in the week.

There were two encounters I had at Octavia that particularly stuck in my mind. One was with a heavyset man in his 40s who gave me his book to sign with tears in his eyes. He asked me to sign it to “Marta, my life raft.” I could see from his expression that he was this close to completely losing his composure. A bit flustered, I tried to fix a look of quiet compassion on my face, and did as he asked. He shook my hand, still very much on the verge of tears, thanked me, and walked stiffly away. Whew!

The other encounter I’ll never forget was with the A.D. character Denise’s uncle John and one of her nieces. They introduced themselves and also thanked me for doing the book. We talked for a while, about Denise and how things were going, and as they walked away he said, “We will always treasure this book.” Suffice it to say that I never had any responses like that to my backpacking book!

At long last, the line of readers finally came to an end — only because Octavia had sold out their entire stock of books, over 60 copies of A.D.! Near the end of the event, they had actually sent some customers back to my previous venue at Maple Street, to buy signed stock I had left there. Some of those readers made the trip over and back just to have me personalize their copies. By the time I finally got out of there, I was overwhelmed from the experience — and I still had the Doctor’s cocktail party to look forward to…

A.D. on the radio

A.D., Publicity

I wanted to let you know about a couple of radio appearances I’ll be making tomorrow (Thursday, Sept. 3). If all goes according to schedule, A.D. character Leo McGovern and I will be on the syndicated NPR show "Tell Me More." Normal host Michel Martin is away, but we had the good fortune of being interviewed by long-time NPR news anchor Linda Wertheimer! In New York, "Tell Me More" is on WNC AM 820 at 2pm and again at 10pm; outside of NYC look for listings in your local area.

I recorded the "Tell Me More" interview today, and it will air tomorrow right around the time I will be appearing LIVE on another syndicated radio program: Jack Rice’s show on Air America. I’m supposed to go on air with him at 2:30 tomorrow afternoon. Let’s hope the two segments don’t overlap; it’ll be very odd to be appearing on the radio simultaneously on two different stations. I’m not sure if you can hear Rice’s show In New York, but you can listen live online; outside of NYC, you can find your local affiliate by visiting the Air America website.

Also, if the stars align, A.D. character Kwame Webster and I will be appearing on the Tavis Smiley Show this weekend. We got bumped last week by coverage of Ted Kennedy’s death, but hope to make it on the program this time around.

By the way, if it’s not obvious, I’m a huge NPR fan; I basically have it on all day while I’m drawing. Talking to Linda Wertheimer was both familiar and surreal: I’m used to hearing her voice all the time, but never actually talking to me! Anyway, Pantheon publicity maven Sara Eagle and I had a lot of fun at NPR’s New York studios. And they were nice enough to present me with a goodie-bag on my way out. Check it out:

Josh and Linda
Linda and Josh

Josh at the mic
At the mic

swag!
Swag!

From the Online NewsHour to the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer…

A.D., Publicity

My phone interview with Jeffrey Brown has been posted on the Online NewsHour site, and it’s not bad. We discuss why I chose to tell the story in comic book form, and get into some details of the creative process, like my layouts and coloring techniques. And it appears that the NewsHour folks found it entertaining as well: the word is that they’re going to mention it on the actual newscast tonight — and maybe even run some of the audio!

Sadly, I won’t be able to see it because I’m doing an event tonight in Chicago (@ The Book Cellar), but if you’re around, check it out. It should run right near the end of the hour.

Houston–NOLA, 8/21

A.D., Publicity, Travel

The drive from Houston to New Orleans, on I-10, took longer than I thought, over five hours — partly due to rush hour traffic outside of Baton Rouge. Thought it’s not the most scenic drive — except when passing over the Atchafalaya Swamp — it was important to me to drive the route so many New Orleanians — including Leo & Michelle — took as they evacuated the city in advance of Hurricane Katrina, It was easy to imagine — especially in the Baton Rouge traffic — the agonizingly slow advance of cars leaving the city for the storm.

I was sweating a bit getting into New Orleans because I was due at the A.D. book party and was behind schedule. In the end, I skipped checking in at my hotel and headed straight over to Republic, in the CBD, for the party. I didn’t have time to change out of my driving outfit of shorts and a T-shirt, but fortunately it was a casual affair so I offended no one.

The party was put together by A.D. character Leo, in conjunction with Crescent City Comics, a store that closed due to the flooding but is finally set to re-open. There was free beer and a nice atmosphere, with a steady crowd. It was a great introduction to the New Orleans response to A.D., as people were very gracious and excited to have me sign their books. I had some great exchanges with people anxious to tell me their Katrina experiences. I also had a selection of oversize giclée prints for sale, to benefit Common Ground Relief. Later, SMITH editor Larry Smith and A.D. characters The Doctor and Michelle also made appearances.

Sari was due to fly in that evening for the party, but perhaps fittingly her flight out of New York was cancelled due to Hurricane Bill. She ended up catching another flight, via Dallas, but missed her connection, and had to stay the night in the Dallas area.

By party’s end, Crescent City had sold over 30 copies of A.D., I had sold four prints, and all the beer had been drunk. Leo and Crescent City owner Les took me out to Juan’s Flying Burrito for some delicious pork and coleslaw tacos, and then I dragged myself over to the hotel to check in and sack out.


Michelle, Larry Smith, Leo, some dude with a strange haircut, and The Doctor

Radio/TV/Podcast Round-up

A.D., Publicity

Okay, so I’ve been doing a lot of yakkin’ about A.D. over the last ten days, and I’m quite sick of hearing myself talk! But just in case you aren’t, here’s a rundown of who I’ve been speaking to, with links to many of the actual interviews. It all started two Sundays ago, on August 16, as I did a live 30-minute bit on Austin’s KAZI Community Radio, chatting with host Hopeton Hay. That same day my half-hour interview with Alex Telander of the Book Banter podcast was posted.

On Wednesday, August 19, my first stop on the publicity tour was marked by a quick interview on the Austin, TX, NPR affiliate KUT, which ran during "All Things Considered." The next day my interview with New Orleans’ own Fred Kasten ran on WWNO. (Kasten, by the way, is a genuine Katrina hero, who in the days immediately following the storm, set up a transmitter in his storm-damaged apartment and kept the station on the air, taking calls from residents and keeping information flowing.) On Saturday, August 22, while still in New Orleans, I recorded a twenty-minute interview with Tom Jackson, host of the "New Orleans Music Hour," which ran later that day on Chicago’s WLUW-FM.

This past Monday, August 24, I did an early-morning live bit on NOLA’s own KMEZ-FM ("Your Favorite Old-School and Today’s R&B"), chatting with host Kelder Summers about A.D. I then scooted over to the other side of the French Quarter for a live five-minute segment on the WWL-TV "Eyewitness Morning News," where I was interviewed by co-host Eric Paulsen. (I thought I’d be more nervous about my first live TV appearance, but it all happened so fast I didn’t have time to be. It also helped that I ran into A.D.’s own Brobson Lutz — a.k.a. "The Doctor" — at the studio, who’s always a cheerful and calming presence. I haven’t seen a clip of the show yet, but Sari saw it live and said I did fine — and looked "handsome," to boot. Pshaw!)

On Tuesday, the day of the big New York launch event, Mr. Media posted my 1/2-hour interview with host Bob Andelman, and then today GalleyCat posted their video interview recorded that night at Idlewild Books. (Don’t ask me why my jaw seems frozen during the GalleyCat interview.)

Today was a busy three-interview day: first a recorded segment for "Art Beat," the entertainment blog of PBS’s the Online NewsHour, which should run tomorrow; then a live appearance on New Hampshire Public Radio’s "Word of Mouth," with host Virginia Prescott; and finally a recorded 15-minute chat on the Tavis Smiley Show with Tavis and A.D. character Kwame Webster. Look out for the Tavis Smiley piece, debuting starting tomorrow on your local PRI affiliate.

Finally — at least for now — in advance of my signing tomorrow at Chicago’s Book Cellar, I’m scheduled to do a live three-minute appearance on WGN-TV’s "Midday News." (In fact, it looks like they’ve already got a link up, in advance…)

Whew! That’s a lot of gabbin’ about A.D.! But the goal is, of course, to spread the word, remind people about Katrina and the people of the Gulf Coast, and let people know about the book. And this is the time to do it: Katrina’s fourth anniversary is this coming Saturday, August 29.

Houston: Domy, BookTV, Jacuzzis, and Chilaquiles

A.D., Publicity, Travel

I pulled into Houston a little later than planned, with just enough time to change clothes and drive over to Domy Books. I was blown away by the magnificence of my hotel, however, the ICON, located in the heart of downtown. I don’t know I know what a five-star hotel is, but this seemed to be it. A beautiful lobby with a three-story atrium, old-fashioned cast iron elevators, and my room…. Let me put it this way: they left me a plate of chocolate-dipped strawberries. A jacuzzi bathtub with sliding doors opening onto a view of the TV. A glass-walled shower stall with the best water pressure I’ve ever experienced. Not to mention the turned-back king-size bed with the proverbial mint on the pillow. Now this is the life of an author on book tour! Never in a million years did I think I would "merit" this kind of service. The only drawback to it all was that Sari wasn’t there to share it with me… and that I didn’t have time to enjoy it, as I had to run off to my signing/presentation.

The Domy event itself was good, though not nearly as well-attended as the Austin Book People event the night before. Kinda surprising when you think about what a strong connection there is between those who evacuated from New Orleans to Houston… but then Houston isn’t nearly the book town that Austin is. Domy is a cool store, reminding me a bit of Chicago’s famous Quimby’s, with a nice collection of art comix, zines, and assorted detritus of underground culture. And the store employees were really sweet: they were all over the book’s production design, admiring the colors, the jacket design, and all the other crap I spent months agonizing over (as well as bringing in whiz-bang designer Charlie Orr to tie it all together for me.)

The presentation took part in a beautiful backyard patio where cicadas chirped and people sipped drinks. What made it all remarkable, however, was that C-SPAN’s BookTV was there filming the whole thing! A crew of five, a director, the whole nine yards. It was really cool; I just wish there had been a crowd more like Book People’s. Though the presentation itself went off without a hitch, there was no life to the Q&A session. Thank Rao for my ol’ comix pal Scott Gilbert, the only person to actually ask me a question. I tried to draw the answer out as long as possible, but I cut it short after that as it was clear no one else was motivated.

Besides Scott, other folks I knew at the signing were Toby Craig, a friend of A.D. characters Leo & Michelle who himself makes an appearance himself in the book; and my ol’ pal Chris Oarr, former CBLDF executive director, and before that co-founder of SPX. It was great seeing Chris after too many years, and we promised to catch up the next morning, when Chris promised to treat me to "a real Texas breakfast!"

After signing the rest of Domy’s stock I was totally beat and drove directly back to the ICON. What with the late arrival into Houston and rushing straight over to Domy, I hadn’t had a chance to have dinner. Unfortunately, however, I arrived back at the ICON just after room service had ended for the night. I was forced to make a meal of the afore-mentioned strawberries and a cranberry juice and some roasted nuts from the room’s minibar. Before completely collapsing, I soaked a bit in the jacuzzi and caught up on the day’s baseball scores via ESPN.

First thing Friday morning was a phone interview for Bob Abdelman’s Mr. Media podcast (which I suppose will be up soon). Then I checked out and drove over to meet Chris at La Mexicana, his favorite Tex-Mex joint. I did indeed have a great breakfast of chilaquiles, tortillas, and refried beans, enough to last me all the way to New Orleans — a five-plus-hour drive…

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Post-NOLA Lull

A.D., Publicity, Travel

After an amazing, nutty weekend, things have calmed down momentarily. I’m still in NOLA but will be flying out back to NYC this afternoon, and I have a sec to catch y’all up on the A.D. book tour so far. I’ll start with the first event, last Wednesday evening at Book People in Austin, Texas. First I did a quick hit on the university radio station/NPR affiliate KUT, where a reporter interviewed me about the book. The interview ran during "All Things Considered," and it was a great plug for the Book People event.

When I drove up to Book People, I was stunned to see my name in a marquee outside, which was a great welcome to Austin. Up front when you walked in, they had a wonderful display of books, with a custom sign designed by Brandi, one of the store employees. And even though I arrived about 45 minutes early for my visual presentation, there were already folks waiting, books in hand. (Book People, by the way, is a great store, two full floors, really well-lit, with lots and lots of books, and lots and lots of room for browsing. A great staff, too, and the owner, it turns out, is a distant relative of mine!)

Despite a slight glitch with my Mac (it’s an old model iBook), my presentation went really well. I had only finalized it that day on the phone, but I was happy with how it came out. (Basically, it takes the viewer through my background as a nonfiction cartoonist, then gets into Hurricane Katrina, my Red Cross volunteering, hooking up with SMITH to tell the story online, how I found the characters, and a little bit about each of them and their storylines. And I end the "show" with a silent run-through of the "god’s-eye view" prologue, with the storm building and then striking New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.)

The presentation was very well-attended, and we had a nice question-and-answer session afterward. A large line formed and I signed books for about a half-hour. Many people had connections with New Orleans and Louisiana, and I also ran into some acquaintances and old friends. My great friend Tori, and her boyfriend Neil and their adorable baby daughter Zia, put me up in town overnight, and mid-day Thursday I set off on my way to Houston for the next event.

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