No Room At The Inn

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Anderson Cooper’s May 14 visit cancelled

By Chris Allen Baker, News Editor
Wednesday, April 21, 2010 9:46 AM CDT

FOREST — CNN broadcast news journalist Anderson Cooper will not be coming to Forest next month as an event planned to help raise money for the new Forest Public Library has been cancelled.

Cooper, who has family ties to Forest through cousins who live here, was expected to appear for a one-hour visit Forest on May 14.

Dana Moore, a cousin of Cooper’s who was organizing his visit, confirmed Monday that Cooper’s visit had been cancelled.

“He sent an e-mail saying ‘I’m sorry that it didn’t work out,’” Moore said of Cooper’s response.

After his visit was announced on March 31, plans had included using the auditorium at Forest Elementary School, however, those plans fell through. Forest Schools Superintendent Raymond Clark said that an awards ceremony was already scheduled for the same day and could not be moved.

Efforts seeking a different location were unsuccessful. Moore said she informed Cooper’s publicist and the visit was cancelled. Cooper is expected to serve as a commencement speaker at Tulane University on May 15 and had agreed to visit Forest on his way to New Orleans.

Cooper, also an author, was planning to speak in Forest for approximately 30 minutes and take questions. His acceptance of an invitation was the result of his local family’s membership in the Friends of the Forest Library organization which is conducting a fundraising campaign to raise $100,000 for shelving for the new library facility expected to be completed this summer.

According to his CNN biography, Cooper anchors “Anderson Cooper 360°,” on CNN each weekday. Cooper, who joined CNN in December 2001, served as weekend anchor before moving to prime time in March 2003.

His book, Dispatches from the Edge, are memoirs about covering the South Asia tsunami, Hurricane Katrina and other news events, has topped The New York Times Bestsellers List and other bestseller charts.