NEW ORLEANS ― Scott Cowen, who is preparing to step down after 16 years as president of Tulane University in New Orleans, has written a book about his adopted home town’s recovery from Hurricane Katrina.
The book, to be released in June, is titled “The Inevitable City: The Resurgence of New Orleans and the Future of Urban America.”
Cowen told The Associated Press that the book ties together stories of ordinary people and civic leaders who played a role in the city’s recovery. He envisions the book as a guide for people in other cities faced with the need for revitalization such as Detroit or Cleveland, where he once served as dean at Case Western Reserve University. Both cities, once epicenters of manufacturing, have been ravaged by the poor economy in recent years.
He also said writing the book was therapeutic as he dealt with the emotional memories in the years following the 2005 storm, when levee breaches led to the city’s devastation.
“For a couple of years after Katrina, I could barely speak in public about what happened,” Cowen said. The raw emotions lasted for years.
“I think I had to get some distance from that so I could write about it from both an objective point of view but also from a very human point of view, about how it made me feel about myself, about the city and the wonderful things I thought I saw happen both in the university and the city since Katrina.”
Katrina changed the city and Cowen’s career trajectory. He said he arrived at Tulane in 1998, envisioning a 10-year tenure and an eventual move to another presidency at another university.
