On a breezy Sunday morning in October 2006, residents of New Orleans—displaced, exhausted, wondering if they would live to see their city’s resurrection—woke to one of the most audacious acts of mass psychotherapy ever performed by an American newspaper. It took place under an unlikely byline. Chris Rose, a columnist for the daily Times-Picayune, was once known primarily for reporting on the bad behavior of visiting celebrities.
Hurricane Katrina changed that: it transformed Rose into a plaintive voice for a struggling city. His columns detailed the emotional toll of living amid still-flatted houses and daily reminders of the 1,500 who died in the storm’s aftermath. And then, more than a year after the breached levees plunged whole districts underwater, Rose was sharing with readers the story of his own descent. Rose’s column was promoted on page one and dominated the paper’s Living section:
I should make a confession. For all of my adult life, when I gave it thought—which wasn’t very often—I regarded the concepts of depression and anxiety as pretty much a load of hooey. I thought anti-depressants were for desperate housewives and fragile poets. I no longer feel that way. Not since I fell down the rabbit hole myself and enough hands reached down to pull me out. One of those hands belonged to a psychiatrist holding a prescription for anti-depressants. I took it. And it changed my life. Maybe saved my life.
For the next 4,000 words, Rose described a spiral familiar to many Katrina survivors: the “crying jags and fetal positionings,” the “thousand-yard stare,” the inability to hold conversations. “I’d noodle around on the piano, read weightless fiction, and reach for my kids, always, trying to hold them, touch them, kiss them. Tell them I was still here,” he wrote. “But I...
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Beautifully written story about a singularly important man. May he go on fighting the good fight, thereby finding his peace. We need so many more like him.
Thank you, Barry. Well done.
Posted by monicalee
on Sun 27 Jan 2008 at 07:26 PM
The book, One Dead in Attic, priceless. I own two copies and both are in the hands of readers. Each reader signs his/her name and passes the book on. Chris Rose is a treasure and I hope to meet him on my next annual trip to New Orleans. My daughter moved to New Orleans a few weeks before Katrina and recently moved for a job in Paris. So, I was more tuned in than I might have been. Thank goodness I saw his book on a display and could not resist purchasing it.
Posted by Christine Crenshaw on Mon 29 Sep 2008 at 06:21 PM
I am mid-way through One Dead in Attic and am engulfed in it. I attend Johnson State College and was introduced to his book by my newspaper publishing professor, and actually am going to be writing an article on him for an upcoming issue. He is also going to be speaking here at the JSC campus Oct. 16, about One Dead in Attic, followed by a book signing. Very exciting.
Posted by Alex Casey on Thu 2 Oct 2008 at 04:23 PM
As one of those who read his columns during those dark days, and beyond, and find inspiration, comfort, challenge and strength from his honesty - I say thank you to Chris Rose. And to Barry Yeoman, The Picayune, and The Columbia Journalism Review.
Mr. Rose came to St. Bernard parish for a book signing last year and was a gracious man...but dancing in his shadow at Jazz Fest last May is how I'll always remember him.
Posted by Rose Marie Sand on Fri 26 Dec 2008 at 01:57 PM