This was an editorial in the Times Picayune this morning:
'Toni Morrison, Nobel Laureate, Pulitzer Prize winner and beloved American storyteller, needed no introduction Thursday night at Tulane University.
Of course, even the best-known speaker must be introduced -- it's simply the polite thing to do. So, Tulane professor Felipe Smith introduced Ms. Morrison to the packed auditorium.
Instead of doing a recitation of her many notable works of fiction, though, he talked about her visits to New Orleans and her cultural connection to the city.
Then he pointed the audience to a passage from Ms. Morrison's Pulitzer-winning novel "Beloved" as a metaphor for us and our times. The exchange between Sethe and Paul D comes near the end of the book.
Ms. Morrison, who read the passage Thursday night, described Sethe as devastated. "She has lost everything. Nobody understands her."
When Paul D walks in, Sethe is weeping. He tries to comfort her: "Me and you, we got more yesterday than anybody. We need some kind of tomorrow." He reassures her, as well, that she is her own "best thing."
For a city and a region that has lost so much and grieved so much in the past 19 months, those words can comfort us as well. Remember, Professor Smith said, New Orleans is its own best thing.'
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