Wash U fundraiser will benefit Katrina survivors staying in St. Louis

Washington University's College of Arts and Sciences will host a fundraiser to benefit survivors of Hurrican Katrina now staying in St. Louis from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, October 28 at The Gargoyle, located on the lower level of the Mallinckrodt Student Center, 6445 Forsyth Blvd. The event is free and open to the public, though donations are encouraged.

Brenda Marie Osbey, a New Orleans native and current Poet Laureate of the State of Louisiana, will read from her work and discuss Katrina's effects on the city. In addition, the event will feature traditional New Orleans-style jazz from St. Louis' Bourbon Street Band, and Gerald Early, Ph.D., the Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters in Arts & Sciences at Washington University and a well-known jazz fan, will speak on "The Death of Jazz and the Birth of New Orleans." The Bourbon Street Band is comprised of trumpeter Herb Booth, Bill Herbert on banjo; Eric Sager on clarinet; Michael Brooks on trombone; and Tom Gassaway on the tuba.