Nine Lives: Death and Life in New Orleans

Journalist and author Dan Baum talked about his book Nine Lives: Death and Life in New Orleans (Spiegel and Grau; February 10, 2009). He traveled to New Orleans in 2005 to cover the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Staying in the city for an extended time, his reporting resulted in a book that chronicles the lives of nine people who have lived in New Orleans since Hurricane Betsy hit the city in 1965. He reports about the transformation of New Orleans since then and the destruction of large portions of the city following Hurricane Katrina. Mr. Baum’s talk at St. Christopher’s school in Richmond, Virginia, was arranged by the Junior League of Richmond. In his talk Mr. Baum described the life of a journalist and author for an audience of high school students. He talked about the process of writing the book, the concept of creative nonfiction, and the problems of on narrative nonfiction. Mr. Baum responded to questions from the students.

Dan Baum, formerly a staff writer for [The close