Photographer Herman Leonard's family needs help

[Lois Gilbert]

Herman Leonard lost everything



Please, if you can, send help to the family. Herman's negatives are in a 5th
floor vault in a museum and may be okay, but they are inaccessible for
months. He has lost everything else - prints, artwork collected over a
lifetime, the computer with all the digital work he has been doing for the
last 10 years, darkroom - everything that can produce an income.

The following is what I was sent by e-mail.

Jim Blackman
__________________________________________

Dear Family and Friends,

We are writing to you on behalf of the LEONARD FAMILY HELP FUND.

As many of you know, Herman Leonard, Shana Leonard, Stephen Smith and their daughter India were living in New Orleans, specifically in the Lakeview
area, which is now well submerged in water in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
They were able to evacuate the city but their property has been flooded and
their possessions destroyed. They left New Orleans with little more than the
clothes on their back and will have to completely rebuild their lives.

Amongst their possessions were all of India’s expensive medical equipment.
India is severely disabled with cerebral palsy and microcephaly. Although
she is 10 years old, she is not able to walk, talk or feed herself, and
requires 24-hour care. A lot of the equipment that is used on a daily basis
they were forced to leave behind and it must be replaced as soon as
possible.

Many of you have been calling and asking how to help, which has meant a lot
to them. Here is the way: LOVE AND CASH! (And not necessarily in that
order).

We have formed the LEONARD FAMILY HELP FUND to assist them in rebuilding
their lives. Please feel free to contribute generously, but most importantly
- no amount is too small.

Please make the check payable to:
LEONARD FAMILY HELP FUND

Send To:
Leonard Family Help fund
c/o Jo Winett
10716 Esther Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90064

Or you can pay via paypal:
leonardfamilyhelpfund@verizon.net

We will be emailing you updates with news and progress. If you have any
questions regarding this fund, or would like to help, please feel free to
contact us.

On behalf of the Leonard Family and ourselves, we sincerely thank you,

Rana Joy Glickman, Jo Winett and Hillary Bratton

Organizing committee contact info -
Rana Joy (323) 960-0080 rana.joy.glickman@shakrahfilms.com
Jo (310) 234-0268 jowinett@verizon.net
Hillary (650) 233-3747 hillary@brattyworld.com

[Lois Gilbert]

Update from Jenny Bagert


Herman evacuated to Houston and is now in Los Angeles with his family. I am currently in Opelousas, Louisiana and will go to San Francisco within the next few weeks. Elizabeth and Allie are OK as well and we are all in communication. We have every reason to believe that Herman’s negatives are safe but they are temporarily inaccessible. We are unsure of the condition of our houses. We do have backup harddrives and will be restoring our database and setting up shop in California over the next few weeks. We will contact you as things develop. An update for our clients and galleries is below.

To our fellow New Orleanians, we love you and hope that you are safe.

Many of you are asking how you can help. If you are in a position to donate, please do so. This will be crucial to so many that now have nothing. Also, we are without a complete e-mail database so please pass on this e-mail to our clients or friends with whom you may be in contact.

Many thanks for your overwhelming support. It is so helpful. We send our love.

Jenny Bagert
for Herman Leonard,l Elizabeth Underwood & Allie Verlander

Herman Leonard Photography, LLC
www.hermanleonard.com
mail@hermanleonard.com


Galleries & Clients:

Correspondence: Our mobile phones are not working so please use e-mail to communicate until we can set-up new lines.

Sales: PLEASE HOLD ALL SALES. If you have a potential sale, please contact me prior to any financial transaction with clients. Our print prices may be subject to change and we will make this decision over the next week.

Payments: PLEASE HOLD ALL PAYMENTS SENT BY MAIL. If you have a payment for past sales, please hold until I can arrange receipt. Payments by bank transfers can continue as usual.

Print Orders: We will be unable to fill print orders for the next several months. However, we will create a hold system for orders as soon we are able and keep you posted.

Book Orders: We will resume shipping book orders within the next few weeks. We have a shipment of books that arrived from France and thankfully did not make it to New Orleans before the storm. As soon as we are able to receive the shipment, we will begin to process orders.

Pending Inquiries: We have lost many pending e-mails and files. Please resend any pending issues by e-mail for our records. We will respond as soon as possible.

New Inquiries: To those of you who have sent recent requests, we will respond to your e-mail as soon as possible.

* Please feel free to send any questions or updates as we are now easily accessing our e-mail.

[Ron Thorne]

I'm really glad to read this update.

I saw Herman Leonard and his daughter on an episode of Larry King Live last week, and their spirits were absolutely amazing.

All the best to Mr. Leonard and his family.