Kudos to the ID team. What a great job you did on the September issue of Industrial Distribution—especially the Special Report: Rebuilding the Gulf Coast (September 2006, p. 32). You captured all the poignant, as well as the pragmatic and personal, issues facing regional distributors devastated one way or another by Hurricane Katrina…I couldn't put your magazine down until I finished reading the gripping stories—the personal tragedies, the high's and low's, the optimism, pluck and spirit, the macro's and micro's of the current business climate, and even the cultural impacts and long-term questions. I think the essence was captured by Richard Cahn's comment, “You lose the people; you lose the uniqueness. You lose the jazz player; you lose the jazz.”

Thanks again to all who contributed.

Greg Walker

MinnTech Electronics-Twin Cities

Hibbing, Minn.