New Orleans: City Out of Sight, Out of Mind, But Not Out of Hope

Crossing the bridge and descending into the 9th Ward on October 20, 2006 for me was akin to landing on the dark side of the Moon. Or dropping into a Dante's Inferno-inspired version of Hell on Earth. After 14 months, it appeared as if the storm had struck only the week before.

There are far too many words that come to mind to describe the devastation and destruction, the loss and sense of abandonment that envelops you like the clouds of dust, and mold, and grit that hang in the air as one by one, homes that were once filled with life are swept clear by bulldozers and backhoes and rendered barren, sterile and soulless.

In this vocabulary of loss two words in particular haunt me:

The first is "criminal". It is criminal that after 14 months, mile after mile of Lakeview and the 9th Ward neighborhoods are untouched by power, or sewage, or water service. It is criminal that no health care safety net of any type exists for the lower-middle class and poor. It is criminal that families still living in Houston, or Chicago, or Baton Rouge as evacuees are at risk of losing their property because they are not in New Orleans to protect and preserve it. And it is criminal that the task of reinventing one of America's great cities has been relegated to the back pages of our newspapers and taken off the agendas of the talking heads who instead fill our airwaves with smoke and clutter.

The second word is "determination." I saw it in the face of every New Orleanian I came in contact with during my work with Share Our Strength's Conference of Leaders; heard it in the words of every bellman and cab driver and average citizen who is fighting to reclaim their city; cried when told of the teachers at Martin Luther King School who have to spend their own money to make copies of textbooks to teach their students; bore witness to it in the actions of Mardelle Early and Pastor Charles Johnson and found hope in the thousands of volunteers with Common Ground and City Year and Share Our Strength and the hundreds of other organizations who have stepped in where governmental leadership has failed.

I'm going back in December.

I don't want to. I have to.

Life of the Father

My father has died.

Four words you know you'll say someday, but when they finally do come out of your mouth, it's like watching from a great distance as the words hang in the air like smoke. A complicated man with faults and weaknesses, as well as a singularly kind and generous soul, I thought I'd share the Obit I had to write on the plane to Michigan. It's a start.

Orville Herbert Farver died on June 21, 2006, at Toledo General Hospital, following complications from surgery related to his extended battle with congestive heart failure and diabetes. He was 78 years old.

His parents, Orville Wilbert Farver and Blanche Wollum Farver, precede him in death. He leaves behind his wife, Connie Farver, son Michael Farver, son Patrick Farver, daughter Cynthia Farver Galiette, daughter-in-law Susan Farver, daughter–in-law Debbie Farver, son-in-law Peter Galiette, grandchildren Natalie Farver, Brett Farver, and Brandon Farver.

Herbert Farver was born in 1928, in Saginaw, Michigan. He attended Florida Military Academy in St. Augustine, Florida, where he met, and eventually married, Shirley Constance Adams. Following service in the United States Navy, Herb and Connie settled in Tecumseh, Michigan, and after studies at Albion College and Adrian College, he joined Blissfield Manufacturing Company, which had been started by his father in 1946. He worked in a variety of sales office and management positions, finally becoming President of the Company in 1978 and Chairman of the Board in 1992. In failing health for the past 10 years, he has resided for the past two years at Charlotte Stephenson Manor in Adrian, where he was surrounded by a caring, dedicated staff that brought him great joy and comfort in the final years of his life.

A resident of Adrian for more than 40 years, under his direction the family has focused on community service; supporting personally and through the Farver Foundation a broad range of charities and community institutions including Bixby Medical Center, Herrick Memorial Hospital, Junior Achievement, Lenawee Community Foundation, Lenawee Sheriff’s Department, Michigan State Police, Siena Heights College and the United Way, A disastrous fire in 1959, which nearly destroyed the Company plant in Blissfield, Michigan, fueled his lifetime commitment to the fire departments, police departments and emergency responders throughout Southeast Michigan.

Among his many awards and accolades, he and Connie received the Lenawee County Chamber of Commerce Maple Leaf Award in 1997. Herb was an animal lover, an unabashed sentimentalist, and a soft touch with a big heart. He counted among his many friends people from every walk of life, and always relished the opportunity to socialize, loving good food, good drink, and good companions. He also took immense pride in his family, following closely their every success.

Words to Live By: My Ethical Curtiledge

We all have our compass. I wrap my framework with the words of friends and those whom I admire. A brief sampling:

Don’t be so tolerant that you tolerate intolerance.

Noble is man
Rich is the earth
Where there is hunger or need there is betrayal. – Nordahl Grieg

All lives unfold in steps and stages. For both individuals and organizations, transition points are inevitable and necessary.

The Challenge is in the moment, the time is always now. - James Baldwin

Whatever else his long, unprecedented life might had been, it had been fun. Fun! If others should find that appraisal shallow, frivolous, so be it. To him, it seemed now to largely have been some form of play. And he vowed that in the future he would strive to keep that sense of play more in mind, for he’d grown convinced that play - more than piety, more than charity or vigilance - was what allowed human beings to transcend evil. - Alobar

There is always something to do. There are hungry people to feed, naked people to clothe, sick people to comfort and make well. And while I don't expect you to change the world, I do not think it's asking too much for you to love those with whom you sleep, share the happiness of those whom you call friend, engage those among you who are visionary and remove from your life those who offer you depression, despair and disrespect. - Nikki Giovanni

It all depends.
And you never can tell. - Shep Root

I Could be Moses if I had a Larger Staff

Watch this space.

As soon as I get my suddenly out-of-control life into some semblance of order, I will be adding my voice to the cacophony of observers vying to get their personal dish listed on the world's menu.