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A Storm, A Play, and the City That Would Not Be Broken
Riverhead
September 2015
On Sale: September 8, 2015
346 pages ISBN: 1594633231 EAN: 9781594633232 Kindle: B00SI02AS4 Hardcover / e-Book
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Non-Fiction Memoir
From acclaimed actor and producer Wendell Pierce, an
insightful and poignant portrait of family, New Orleans and
the transforming power of art. On the morning of August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina
barreled into New Orleans, devastating many of the city's
neighborhoods, including Pontchartrain Park, the home of
Wendell Pierce's family and the first African American
middle-class subdivision in New Orleans. The hurricane
breached many of the city's levees, and the resulting
flooding submerged Pontchartrain Park under as much as 20
feet of water. Katrina left New Orleans later that day, but
for the next three days the water kept relentlessly gushing
into the city, plunging eighty percent of New Orleans under
water. Nearly 1,500 people were killed. Half the houses in
the city had four feet of water in them—or more. There was
no electricity or clean water in the city; looting and the
breakdown of civil order soon followed. Tens of thousands of
New Orleanians were stranded in the city, with no way out;
many more evacuees were displaced, with no way back in. Pierce and his family were some of the lucky ones: They
survived and were able to ride out the storm at a relative's
house 70 miles away. When they were finally allowed to
return, they found their family home in tatters, their
neighborhood decimated. Heartbroken but resilient, Pierce
vowed to help rebuild, and not just his family's home, but
all of Pontchartrain Park. In this powerful and redemptive narrative, Pierce brings
together the stories of his family, his city, and his
history, why they are all worth saving and the critical
importance art played in reuniting and revitalizing this
unique American city.
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