Pete Murphy

Katrina, Della and Me: and Other Stories Pete Murphy

Pete Murphy was a true original: a highly gifted writer steeped in the tradition of Hemingway, Chandler and Elmore Leonard, but with a voice distinctively his own - caustic, subtle, and with a disturbing and sometimes explosive edge behind its understatement. A Vietnam veteran, until Hurricane Katrina in 2005 Murphy was based in New Orleans. As a result of the hurricane he lost everything apart from his cat Della - including his home, all his possessions and even the manuscript of his novel Salamanders (published by AESOP Modern in 2018), which fortunately he had previously sent to his editor. After Katrina he moved to Garland, Texas, where he worked as a carpenter and decorator before creating the old-time radio website, otrdepot.com. He died in March 2011. Murphy's experience of Katrina, together with a number of his short stories, are recounted in this book.