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Coroner's Tale: Naming the Dead in Louisiana

Fresh Air | By Terry Gross
Published March 15, 2006 at 11:00 AM EST
Dr. Cataldie describes the process of fingerprinting Hurricane Katrina victims at a temporary morgue in St. Gabriel, La., on October 14, 2005.
Chris Graythen/Getty Images
Dr. Cataldie describes the process of fingerprinting Hurricane Katrina victims at a temporary morgue in St. Gabriel, La., on October 14, 2005.

Louisiana State medical examiner Louis Cataldie was the coroner for the East Baton Rouge Parish in Louisiana from 1998 to 2003. He also was a small-town general practitioner and emergency-room doctor in Baton Rouge.

When Hurricane Katrina hit, Dr. Cataldie helped to evacuate patients and set up field hospitals. He also aided the injured and investigated deaths. That task is ongoing, as Cataldie is working to identify the dead from Katrina. His new book is Coroner s Journal: Stalking Death in Louisiana.

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Terry Gross
Combine an intelligent interviewer with a roster of guests that, according to the Chicago Tribune, would be prized by any talk-show host, and you're bound to get an interesting conversation. Fresh Air interviews, though, are in a category by themselves, distinguished by the unique approach of host and executive producer Terry Gross. "A remarkable blend of empathy and warmth, genuine curiosity and sharp intelligence," says the San Francisco Chronicle.
See stories by Terry Gross