Not long ago, it seemed impossible to imagine the destruction wrought by Hurricane Katrina. Now as thousands of people lucky to have gotten out alive become refugees, thousands — perhaps even millions — of others seek to aid the relief effort, and all of us ask questions and demand answers, we can’t help but confront reality’s dark underbelly.

In this month’s issue of InTheFray, as we remember those whose lives disaster failed to spare and offer hope and prayers to those whose lives have been forever changed, we offer readers a reality check. We begin in Calgary, Canada, where Tatiana Tomljanovic traces the footsteps of Crime Scene Investigator Lisa Morton, only to discover that the job isn’t nearly as glamorous — or as easy — as it looks on television, especially for a woman in a predominately male enterprise, in CSI: Canada.

In London, meanwhile, InTheFray Travel Editor Anju Mary Paul, so used to  hailed as exotic when she journeys abroad, discovers that the city’s July 7 bombings changed everything. That is, they unleashed Fear and loathing in London, making an Indian citizen an instant terrorist suspect. And in nearby Frankfurt, Tatiana von Tauber finds the stark reality of violence, sex, lost innocence, and Little monsters she knew as an American mother has become foreign to her in Germany, where the mother is highly prized.

And for all of you bibliophiles, be sure to get your copy of Irene Kai’s The Golden Mountain so you can be in the know when OFF THE SHELF makes its long-awaited return on October 3.

Laura Nathan
Editor
Buffalo, New York

Laura Nathan-Garner