My first introduction to New Orleans was from the air, flying high over the city with a view of the land - and water - below.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I took many trips down to New Orleans trying to experience the city as deeply as possible. I'm from Detroit so New Orleans seemed very exotic to me.
Flying over New Orleans on our approach, I got it. There was no view of land without water - water in the great looming form of Lake Pontchartrain, water cutting through in tributaries, water flowing beside a long stretch of highway, water just - everywhere.
I took several trips to New Orleans and met with people who had intimate knowledge of the underbelly of the city in the 1950s. The meetings were both fascinating and terrifying.
The reality of Katrina didn't really strike me until the first time I flew up in a helicopter and saw areas of the city that I had ridden my bicycle as a youth being fully flooded.
Before I went to New Orleans, I was a little scared of New Orleans. I don't know why. I had only been there a few times. Something about it made me feel nervous, knowing a bit about the history.
I love New Orleans. I did a movie there right before Katrina.
I certainly wanted to write a book that was honest about New Orleans without explaining it to death, so much so that the first draft contained references absolutely incomprehensible to anyone who hasn't lived here for several years.
I was just mind-blown to find that New Orleans is just so much more fun and interesting than I had ever thought.
I love New Orleans physically. I love the trees and the balmy air and the beautiful days. I have a beautiful house here.
New Orleans. Born and raised. I lived there until I was 19.
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