'On the Hurricane Coast' chronicles the pre- and post-Katrina travels of writer, filmmaker and photographer Douglas Bennett Lee in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, viewed and interpreted through lifelong ties and family roots in the region. After working summers on his family's farm in coastal Mississippi, he returned as a National Geographic staff writer to explore the Central Gulf Coast on in-depth assignments over many years, and brings a unique perspective as both a science and travel writer with a keen ear and eye for tales of human interest. Drawing on his explorations of the Coast's long and colorful history, and reporting on present-day science and politics, he looks into the hard choices required for the survival of New Orleans and fellow communities threatened by the century-long loss of Louisiana's coastal wetlands. He also finds meaningful parallels between personal recovery from alcoholism, and the road ahead for Gulf Coasters in their recovery from natural threats made disastrous by human actions and neglect. Along the way we meet an unforgettable cast of swamp frontiersmen born a century late, fierce urban survivors and embattled environmentalists, all united in one thing: their love for the Coast's indelible cultures and threatened natural inheritance, and dedication to rebuilding the life abundant they once knew there, and loved. Read More