KU News Release

Author of book about Hurricane Katrina to visit Dole Institute

LAWRENCE — Wall Street Journal reporter Chris Cooper, co-author of “Disaster: Hurricane Katrina and the Failure of Homeland Security,” will speak at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 14, at the University of Kansas’ Dole Institute of Politics. Cooper is sitting in for his co-author, Wall Street Journal reporter Bobby Block, who was originally scheduled to appear.

“Disaster” is “likely the best in-depth contemporary analysis of the Hurricane Katrina debacle that America has yet seen,” according to the Washington Post. The review praises the book as “tightly crafted and readable ... by two veteran reporters who tenaciously piece together the inside story of how the Bush administration unraveled when confronted with its first major post-9/11 domestic emergency.”

Cooper is a White House correspondent for the Wall Street Journal and is a former political reporter for the New Orleans Times-Picayune. Block covers homeland security for the Journal.

The program is free and open to the public. A book signing will follow.

The event will be simulcast at the Edwards Campus in Overland Park. For more information, contact the Dole Institute at (785) 864-4900 or visit www.doleinstitute.org. For information on the simulcast, visit the Edwards Campus Web site.

The Dole Institute of Politics is dedicated to the mission of promoting public service, civic engagement and politics. It is located on KU’s west campus, next to the Lied Center.

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The University of Kansas is a major comprehensive research and teaching university. University Relations is the central public relations office for KU's Lawrence campus.