Harry knows New Orleans will never really dry out
TRAVELING BY BOAT and wading through foul-smelling water, Harry Connick Jr. surveyed the damage done by Hurricane Katrina to his father’s New Orleans home. “It looks like pop’s house made it through,” he said. “Everything looks like it’s pretty dry.”
Connick returned to New Orleans on Monday, a trip documented for NBC’s “Today” show and aired Tuesday. His father, Harry Connick Sr., served as district attorney of New Orleans for 29 years before retiring in 2003.
Like many, Connick wanted to protect his family’s house: “I don’t want to get looted by the one-eyed rogue crackhead out there.”
The trip through the flooded city left the 37-year-old singer – who had developed his music at clubs in the French Quarter – shaken.
“I forgot I was a musician,” he said. “It’s so much bigger than me and bigger than all of us.”
But with the floodwaters slowly receding, Connick saw reason for optimism. After seeing a bar open on Bourbon Street, “I said, ‘Man, if this isn’t a sign of New Orleans coming back to its former state.’ “
Do right like Grisham
Best-selling writer John Grisham and his wife usually keep their charitable donations private, but they’ve decided to disclose their $5 million contribution to establish a relief fund to help Mississippians rebuild after Hurricane Katrina.
“In these very, very rare circumstances – this tragic time – we hope the gift will get some attention and inspire other people to contribute money and help our fellow Mississippians on the Gulf Coast,” said Grisham, a former state legislator who maintains a home in Oxford, Miss.
Who wants to take that rap?
Death Row Records founder Marion “Suge” Knight, who was shot in the leg at an MTV awards pre-party last month, has been released from the hospital.
Knight was shot during a party hosted by Kanye West prior to the MTV Video Music Awards on Aug. 28. He underwent surgery to remove the bullet from his leg and repair a fractured bone.
Miami Beach police have made no arrests and have complained about lack of cooperation from witnesses.
Imbiber: Merced
Katie Gallagher, runner-up on CBS’ “Survivor: Palau,” was arrested for drunken driving last week in her hometown of Merced, Calif.
Gallagher was held overnight and released, authorities said. Her next court appearance was set for Oct. 31.
Gallagher took home $100,000 in prize money after finishing second on the latest edition of “Survivor.” The former radio advertising representative spent 39 days on Palau, located about 530 miles southeast of the Philippines in the South Pacific.
It’s all about the ring
Seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong and rock star Sheryl Crow are officially engaged.
The cyclist said he popped the question last week while they were in Sun Valley, Idaho. No wedding date has been set, although it could be a spring ceremony, his spokesman said.
The marriage will be the second for Armstrong, who has three children with ex-wife Kristin, and the first for Crow, whose new album, “Wildflower,” will be released Sept. 27.
The birthday bunch
Jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins is 75. Actor John Philip Law is 68. Singer Gloria Gaynor is 56. Singer Chrissie Hynde (The Pretenders) is 54. Actress Julie Kavner (“The Simpsons”) is 54. Actor Corbin Bernsen is 51. Model Angie Everhart is 36. Actress Shannon Elizabeth (“American Pie”) is 32. Actor Devon Sawa (“Slackers”) is 27.