PBS brings you into the past of my favorite city

Last night, I had the opportunity to watch an extraordinary episode of PBS' series American Experience focusing on the growth and history of New Orleans, from its founding up to and including the Katrina disaster. Background from experts, most of them locally based, and archival photos and footage were splendidly blended with more recent images of the city in both its Carnival-festive best times and its flooded and post-flood worst, all to a background of (what else?) jazz and blues music. If you missed it, you can watch it in its entirety online here, as well as partake of additional information and rich-media material not shown on the telecast. I highly recommend it; it does not shy away from the darker portions of the city's past, and it also shows the unconquerable spirit of the city and its unique mix of cultures.

Real Life Heroes™, Posthumous Division: Marty Storch

Continuing my series of posts about real people who exemplify the best in humanity in times when we are all too often confronted with the worst: Sadly, I did not learn of this Real Life Hero until his passing was announced in our local paper's obituary section. But his story struck me with awe and admiration—not merely for his surviving one of the most notorious instances of wholesale genocide in human history, nor even for having recovered from that to amass a personal fortune as an immigrant businessman here...but because, even after experiencing such loss and anguish that he abandoned all faith in God, he still chose to share his story with the children of the next generation, to help them understand that even in the face of harrowing adversity, survival and even success are still possible. In the process, he regained his faith and returned to the religion of his upbringing, which had condemned him to death in another land and time.

Because of him, the truth about what happened in Nazi concentration camps during the 1940s will never be forgotten. And maybe we can worry just a bit less about those smooth-talking Holocaust deniers getting anywhere anytime soon.

Marty Storch, Shoah Survivor, Real Estate Tycoon and Witness to Children