Where Are They Now?

As we come upon the fifth anniversary of the storm and the Federal Flood, all of us getting Rising Tide a-rising off the ground each year have done some looking back from time to time. It seems to be almost imperative to do some revisitation of the things that have gone wrong and right since the conference's earliest days, and we do that by doing our best to improve upon the programming and the general organization of the conference - with much assistance from you, the attendees in person and in spirit.

However, it's also a good thing to check out where past participants are in recent times and what they're up to...so I'll be kicking it off with the past keynote speakers' doings.

Far as I can tell, RT I keynoter Chris Cooper is now a vice-president of a PR firm in the DC area and his fellow keynoter and co-author of the book Disaster Robert Block is currently the space editor and NASA correspondent for the Orlando Sentinel.

RT II's main man Dave Zirin of edgeofsports.com is always up to something, which is a good thing. His most recent activities consist of hosting his Sirius XM radio talk show, on which players such as former Saint Scott Fujita are featured, and, in-between appearances on MSNBC's (Whoops, that's been corrected from CNBC. Thanks, Adrastos!) Morning Joe program and the Rachel Maddow Show, promoting his latest book, Bad Sports: How Owners Are Ruining the Games We Love. Anybody still grumbling over Tom Benson's gift to the Superdome faithful of ripping over 1000 seats out to accommodate a larger press area can certainly relate.

The author of the inspiration for the name of the conference, John Barry came along for Rising Tide III and shared his current assessments of flood protection in southeast Louisiana. He's still an active member of the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority of Louisiana and the vice-president of the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority - East, and is also a Distinguished Scholar at Tulane and Xavier Universities' Center for Bioenvironmental Research. Good to see he's still working for major improvements to southeast Louisiana's environment.

Harry Shearer rocked Rising Tide IV with his assessment of how well the word has gotten out about the failures on all levels surrounding the eventsof8/29/2005 and in the years after, and he's rocking again with his new documentary The Big Uneasy, to be shown locally at the Prytania Theater and at Canal Place on August 30th, Check here for show locations and times by you.

And keynoter-to-be Mac McClelland, judging by her Twitter stream, just paid a visit to one of the relief wells out in the Gulf. Reportedly:

My attempts to instigate exhibition fisticuffs btwn my BP & Transocean PR handlers were unsuccessful.

Well, we're glad she hasn't gotten the memo about the oil disaster being over. We're expecting great things from you, Mac. *wagging of finger* Only because she keeps delivering.

Any other dish on what past panelists are up to these days? Share those stories in the comments below, and be sure to join us on August 28th for more.



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