Deborah Burst, a local photographer and author of a new book titled The Mystical Life of Trees, and Ronnie Virgets, a local writer and broadcast legend who is the author of new book titled Saints and Lesser Souls, will talk about their latest works at and sign copies at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 28, at the East Bank Regional Library, 4747 West Napoleon, Metairie.

This event is free of charge and is open to the public. There is no registration.

Deborah Burst, The Mystical Life of Trees

“The rapturous beauty of trees consumes our everyday life, but how often do we truly study them,” Burst says. “Most witness that obvious blur of green while driving the highway, but do you walk among them, run your hands across their bark? For some, a tree was that eternal playmate and the forests a magical land where dreams came true. But do they hear our words? Do they feel our arms around them? And do they have feelings?”

Burst, a self-professed ambassador of trees, will share their story and help answer these questions. She says that all her life she has been mesmerized by trees, and for more than 30 years has lived inside her own wooded kingdom in Mandeville.

An award-winning author and photographer, Burst’s presentation will share the beauty of trees from New Orleans to the Blue Ride Mountains, and as far away as New York and Boston. She has done much research on the subject of the mystical life of trees, reading several books on the history and purpose of trees. The presentation offers evidence in the symbiotic relationship between trees and humans, the healing power of nature, noted by both medical proof and personal anecdotes.

Ronnie Virgets, Saints and Lesser Souls

Saints and Lesser Souls is the last in a trilogy of collected essays penned by New Orleans Native Ronnie Virgets. For decades, his work has appeared in print and ridden on radio and television airwaves.

Virgets' awards are numerous. They include an Emmy, an Edward R. Murrow award, two Eclipse honors, and the 2001 Press Club of New Orleans Lifetime Achievement Award. His portrait hangs in the New Orleans Fairgrounds racetrack Press Box Hall of Fame, and he reigned as King of the Krewe du Vieux during Carnival 1996.

Readily recognized in New Orleans, Virgets' literary voice is only upstaged by his raspy Yat Dialect. It has served as the calling card of many middle-class characters of the Crescent City, which Virgets calls "the storytelling capital of North America."

For more information regarding this presentation, contact Chris Smith, Manager of Adult Programming for the library, at (504) 889-8143 or wcsmith@jefferson.lib.la.us.