Big Red's Mercy

Internationally renowned journalist and author Mark Hertsgaard will be at The Garden District Book Shop May 15 for a discussion and signing of his latest book Big Red’s Mercy, the gripping story of a New Orleans woman who was felled in the biggest mass shooting in the city’s modern history—and then shocked observers by forgiving the two young Black men who shot her and eighteen other people at a second line parade. 

Mark Hertsgaard and Deborah Cotton— widely known by her nickname, Big Red— were strangers to one another, united only by a love of jazz and New Orleans’s distinctive Second Line tradition. And then, during a Mother’s Day parade, they were thrown together when two gunmen fired into the crowd.

Charismatic, complicated, and struck down in her prime, Big Red and her heroic life will captivate readers. In the wake of the shooting, she never stopped fighting as she sought to get to the core of this uniquely American maelstrom.  Based on hundreds of hours of interviews, Big Red's Mercy channels Deborah Cotton’s message that racial truth and reconciliation is still possible if Americans can confront uncomfortable truths that have been buried too long.

The evening will begin at 6:00 PM and Hertsgaard will sit down with Ramon Vargas, a New Orleans-based editor at the international newspaper The Guardian, to discuss the book.

Entry to the event is free and open to the public but the shop encourages interested parties to RSVP to ensure entry and reserve a copy of the book on Eventbrite as space is limited. Additional copies will be available to purchase. 

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

The Garden District Book Shop, 2727 Prytania Street, New Orleans, United States