ST. PETE TIMES: Their Savior in a silver canoe

[AmBlue]

FEMA could take a lesson or two from Juan.

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Their savior in a silver canoe
He couldn't leave knowing there were people in New Orleans who needed his help. He was right.
By REBECCA CATALANELLO, Times Staff Writer
Published September 7, 2005

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NEW ORLEANS - Juan Parke spends mornings in his silver canoe, paddling to houses of neighbors whose loved ones are searching for them.

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For people in the Carrollton Square section of uptown, Parke has become "Juan, the guy with the canoe" - a renegade rescuer and neighborhood hero, the funny little guy with an overgrown goatee, an orange pack of medical supplies and a cell phone that doesn't stop ringing with text messages.

Neighborhood rescuers have emerged all over the city. For them, New Orleans is too precious to leave in the hands of the search and rescue teams and National Guard.

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Ask Parke why he has stayed, and he paraphrases Shakespeare's King Henry V: "For those who are not with us will hold their manhood cheap."

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http://www.sptimes.com/2005/09/07/Worldandnation/Their_savior_in_a_sil.shtml

[ellie]

1. Thanks for posting this!

What a great story!