Katrina Came Calling

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Image hosting by PhotobucketAs many of you know, in October 2005, shortly after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, I served a three-week stint as a Red Cross volunteer in Biloxi/Gulfport, Mississippi. I’ve just self-published Katrina Came Calling, a book (not a graphic novel!) about my experiences.

Taken from my LJ from that period, Katrina Came Calling is an intimate look at my reaction to the hurricane; signing up for Red Cross training; getting deployed; the conditions in the Gulf; working with the survivors; a visit to New Orleans; Port-a-Potties; my co-workers; issues of race, religion, and regional background; returning home; and much more. It also includes tons of photographs and a brand-new introduction. And — in a unique marriage of print and the ongoing conversation of the Internet — Katrina Came Calling includes many of your comments — and my responses to them. They augment the discussion, inform the reader, and otherwise enhance the project.

To all those who read my online journal and took time to respond, you inspired me to keep going, both as a volunteer and as a documenter of the experience. Specifically, these folks “made the cut”: aciddust_420, alibi_shop, al_monster, deadredfred, drockdamian, l8blmr, leborcham, man_size, nexusnrg, purvision, pivovision, rojogato, spaceman_fromrc, sugarc0atdlies, thamesrhodes, tracerchick, and wjcohen. (Throughout the book, I use your LJ screen-names — partly for privacy reasons and partly because I don’t know some of your real names!) In addition, Michael Simon and a few non-LJ users left anonymous comments.

This self-published booklet is a limited-run “vanity” edition, and as such, I beg your forgiveness for using your words without getting your prior permission. I am offering the book, such as it is, free of charge to everyone cited above. If, after seeing the book, you would rather I took out your comments, just let me know, and I will remove them from all future editions (if there are any). Hopefully, that won’t be the case!

So there we go. Katrina Came Calling is: limited-edition, 100 print-run, black-and-white, digest-sized, saddle-stitched, 102 pp. If you’re one of those cited above, claim your free copy by emailing me at joshcomix@mindspring.com with your real name and mailing address. Anyone else who’d like a copy can send $5 to: Josh Neufeld, 175 Eastern Parkway, #5C, Brooklyn, NY 11238.

(Thanks to alexdecampi), here’s a way to buy the book using PayPal:

That is all.

0 thoughts on “Katrina Came Calling

  1. Could you set aside two of them for me? I’m in a State of Poor right now, but in a week or two I can get you the cash.
    One will be for me, one for the University of Illinois library, where I’ll get it a prominent place on the shelves. 🙂

    1. Will do. I don’t actually have the books yet myself. They’re due from the printer next Friday.
      And thanks for saving one for the Univ. of IL library. I’ll throw that one in for free, so just send me $5.

  2. You can set up a paypal account and a BUY NOW button on your LJ (it takes five nanoseconds) so people like me who do not live in America can order the book… I want one, but all my money has pictures of the Queen on it.

  3. I’m from New Orleans and I was curious if any of the people whose comments you responded to for the book were from there, too. You know, to keep it from being such an outsider perspective piece. Just curious because here in Chicago a lot of people have some weird ideas about the reality of my city and it sometimes hurts.
    🙂
    Shannon

    1. hey shannon,
      a couple of folks who responded to my LJ posts are/were from NOLA. also, i have a couple of good friends — not on LJ — who read the posts and in effect “approved” of my reportage.
      remember: i wasn’t based in New Orleans. i was in Biloxi, MS. i spent one day in NOLA, which i wrote about here. read it and judge for yourself whether i did it justice.
      in any case, sorry to hear you’ve had insult added to injury when it comes to your city.
      – josh

  4. ohhhhhhhhhhh
    i want one i want one… sorry i have gotten in touch… getting back into the swing of things you know… but definitely putting my order in…. connor

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