Words Whispered in Water, Anniversary Edition - 2nd Edition by Sandy Rosenthal (Hardcover)

About the Book

Words Whispered in Water is a rare story about how a tiny woman prevailed against a mammoth federal agency and won. When steel flood-walls built with inherent engineering mistakes broke in New Orleans, the responsible party, the Army Corps of Engineers, went into full-time damage control mode, but in the chaotic aftermath, Sandy Rosenthal uncovered evidence that the Army Corps had made egregious design mistakes in their steel floodwalls fifteen years before they buckled and failed, causing hundreds of deaths.

Book Synopsis

Words Whispered in Water is a rare story about how a tiny woman prevailed against a mammoth federal agency and won. When steel flood-walls built with inherent engineering mistakes broke in New Orleans, the responsible party, the Army Corps of Engineers, went into full-time damage control mode, but in the chaotic aftermath, Sandy Rosenthal uncovered evidence that the Army Corps had made egregious design mistakes in their steel floodwalls fifteen years before they buckled and failed, causing hundreds of deaths.

Review Quotes

"[S]hows how an individual has the power to change big government agencies that may seem invincible.... Her drive is remarkable and it is impressive how she became so knowledgeable about all the intricacies that led to the failure of the levees....Words Whispered in Water [proves] how the voice of concerned individuals can change the status quo, and potentially save many lives by kindling the structural changes that are needed to better protect society." -Paulina Concha Larrauri, Columbia Water Center, Columbia University

"Political activist Rosenthal delivers a blow-by-blow account of her fight to hold the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers accountable for the flooding of New Orleans... Chronicles her growing suspicions that the media and the U.S. Army were misrepresenting the causes of the flooding...Reveals what it takes to hold the powerful to account." -Publishers Weekly

"For years, Sandy Rosenthal has been the go-to source for any reporter seeking to understand the truth about flood protection in New Orleans: what really happened to the levees following Hurricane Katrina and the steps taken (and those that still need to happen) to protect the area and its residents. Read the inside story for yourself in this readable, engaging tale of how Rosenthal began investigating the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers shortly after Katrina and her efforts to hold accountable the Corps and other public officials." --Gary Rivlin, author of Katrina: After the Flood

"Part memoir, part exposéeacute;eacute;, Rosenthal employs the surgical precision of a investigative journalist and the craft of a memoirist to expose the flaws, natural and human, behind the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina. Fueled by personal history and a fierce sense of social advocacy, Rosenthal goes beyond the received Katrina narrative and the media that advanced that narrative to uncover corruption, bureaucracy and a failing infrastructure. Rosenthal balances the deeply personal with a keen documentarian's eye to create an engaging and compelling account. Incisive, exhaustively researched and deeply engaging, Rosenthal offers an enlightening and cautionary account within a riveting and compelling read." --The Eric Hoffer Award Program

"A fast-paced documentary about a dedicated person's journey after the greatest engineering failure in history. It is also a book that every engineer should read because within the pages is a revelation, an indictment of a blundering bureaucracy." --Stephen Estopinal, Xavier Review

"Putting herself in the path of the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), the local media, academia, and entrenched political interests in order to get to the truth about the New Orleans levee system took guts, as well as masterful community organizing. Anyone who is interested in Hurricane Katrina, and in America's failing infrastructure, will want to read this book told in a fast-paced narrative." --Scott G. Knowles, head of the Department of History at Drexel University and author of The Disaster Experts: Mastering Risk in Modern America

"Sandy Rosenthal's account of the founding of levees.org after the flood of New Orleans is an invaluable memoir of the making of an activist. In a world crying out for citizen action around increasingly desperate climate issues, her story is timely and instructive--and even hopeful." --Michael Tisserand, author of the award-winning The Kingdom of Zydeco

"Saving New Orleans is not enough for Sandy Rosenthal. Since the federal levees failed New Orleans in 2005, she has made it her business to tell threatened communities around the country that the Army Corps of Engineers is doing a woeful job of maintaining our infrastructu

About the Author

Sandy Rosenthal is an American civic activist and founder of Levees.Org, an organization dedicated to educating the American public about levee failures and flooding in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. Most recently, Rosenthal was awarded Outstanding Social Entrepreneur of the Year from Tulane University for her efforts. She is a founding member of the mentoring program Laurel Eagles. When she's not advocating for safe levees, she's practicing with her Mardi Gras parading group, the Divine Revelers of Terpsichore.

She currently lives in New Orleans with her two dogs, Twinkie and Cupcake.