Hi everyone,
Last night at least 89 people died in the tornado that struck Joplin, Missouri about seventy-five miles west of here. Veda Boyd Jones lives there and I don’t know if she is all right. You met Veda on October 12, 2010 in a segment of Writers at Work. Here’s the link. https://davidlharrison.wordpress.com/2010/10/12/writers-at-work-obstacles-to-writing /
Large sections of Joplin were wiped out, including one hospital. Our heart goes out to vicitims, their families, and to everyone whose lives will be dramatically disrupted for a long time to come.
David
BULLETIN:
Children's Author David L. Harrison's Blog 
Just saw this on the news, David. So sorry for everyone affected by yesterday’s storms! Thoughts and prayers for all.
david, i broke my arm and had surgery to place a rod in two weeks ago. excuse this typing. velda is a sweet friends of mine and many other friends in that area. i am praying with all my heart for them. mary nida
Grateful to find out that Veda is ok. Thinking of the many others…
It’s horrible. My brother, an emergency flight nurse for St. John’s, has been there since Sunday treating patients, doing triage, transferring them to other hospitals. Says it’s unbelievable. They’re still hoping to find people in the rubble. They found seven alive yesterday. Prayers that they’ll find many more. I’m scared the death toll will rise much higher when they unearth the Wal-Mart and Home Depot that were both destroyed.
Four writers that I know live in Joplin: Terry McDermid, Tracy Garrett, Cindy Dagnan and Ann Leach. Ann lost everything. Cindy lost her home in ’03 but not this time. Her husband is the police chief, I believe. The others are okay but know friends and family who lost their homes or lives.
So very sad.
The Missouri Writers’ Guild and Joplin Writers Guild is sponsoring a “Storm Country” anthology, with a Call for Submissions open until July 15th. All proceeds go to the libraries of the Joplin School District. MWG has been working directly with the Joplin School District to help provide books, cash and other resources for libraries and the destroyed Teacher Resource Center. Writers, we’re looking for your weather-related contributions!