Some of our friends from Biloxi are visiting Sag Harbor this week.  They all deserve our respect for what they are still dealing with down South.  I had absolutely no idea how bad things still are down there.  New Orleans citizens’ were grateful to the American Library Association for being the first major conference to visit NO since Katrina;  we all felt embarrassed by their thanks.  It is truly unbelievable to me the lack of assistance people are receiving.  I spoke with a woman who lost everything - her house disappeared.  All that remained of her family’s belongings was a tube of lipstick found in a ditch.  There is nothing in parts of the coast - no trees, no buildings, no evidence that there were ever communities there.   I just want to humbly thank New Orleans for being so good to us while we were down there.  One of the conference speakers was Cooper Anderson.  He encouraged librarians, as the keepers of memory in this country, to go home and tell everyone we know not to forget what happened and is still happening to our fellow citizens down South.  I encourage everyone to visit New Orleans and bring some help and hope to that city as well as all of the other cities and parishes so devastated by this terrible event.