

Click image to read
This is a no-cost, ads-free ebook in which I profile a few of the more interesting
people whom I grew to know, either personally or from afar, when I returned home to New Orleans, Louisiana after
getting through more than half a decade of military service in the 1980s. When I was a kid, New Orleans was a fun
and interesting place to be. But after I grew up a little and got to see some of the world outside the city, I
came to realize the disappointing truth about it. But though I do give the reader a first-hand, insider's look
at some of the heavy frustration that comes with living in New Orleans and with its indigenous people here, those
anecdotal bits of comedy and tragedy are merely incidental to the over-all thesis that there is hope that all of
us can overcome life's tribulations with the help of those who have gone before us and with faith (if only we would
actively seek and accept both). Accordingly, a main focus of this work is an exploration of positive insights about
what it means to be human in a broader sense and setting, and how we can successfully see our way through all the
racism, sexism, homophobia, selfishness, corruption, addictions, birth defects, mental incapacity, love tragedies
and all the other painful aspects of life that come along with being stuck on this planet with each other, even
if we're stuck in what is, in my opinion, one of the worst places on the planet (well, one of the worst in America, anyway).
"My biggest mistake was not realizing . . . that Louisiana was dysfunctional."
(Testimony of former FEMA director, Michael Brown, at the 2005 U.S. Congressional hearings on the alleged lack of an adequate federal response to the Hurricane Katrina disaster - hey, Mike! Stevie Wonder could have seen that!)
Please donate to the American Red Cross relief effort for the victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita by calling (800) HELP-NOW -- (800) 435-7669. Click HERE to donate at the American Red Cross web site.