Bernard Herman '08, a well-known creative writer and New Orleans activist on campus, took his own life in his hometown of New Orleans on May 12. He was 21.Herman, who had taken a voluntary medical leave from the University in March, shot himself on top of a levee on the 17th Street canal in his childhood neighborhood of Lakewood South. The canal was the site of one of the levee system failures that caused tremendous flooding following Hurricane Katrina in August 2005.

Adam Herman '04 said his brother, a creative writing major and features writer for the Justice, battled depression since the hurricane and his father's suicide, which was also by gunshot. Herman's father shot himself in the ruins of the family's home last May, Adam said.

Herman may have purchased the gun from a pawn shop or gun dealer, he added.

"I'm sad[,] but I'm feeling like Bernard had a lot sadness in the last couple of months and he struggled really, really hard to comprehend himself and to articulate to others that he felt like he was struggling," he said. "And so what I'm sad about is whatever pain Bernard was in was so great and so powerful that he felt like this was his only option."

Those close to Herman said that his suicide can be closely linked with the recent tragedies in his life.

"He was hurting so bad," Cindy Kaplan '08, a close friend of Herman, said. "Everything kind of fell apart after Katrina." Kaplan said Herman stayed in a psychiatric ward of different hospitals, several times last semester.

"I certainly don't mean to make him unique amongst the thousands who also lost their property, and even their lives, but Bernard was totally crushed by Hurricane Katrina," Adam wrote in an e-mail to the Justice. "Bernard blamed a hurricane not only for sweeping away his life-long house, his car and the spirit of his city, but now also one of his parents. I cannot even imagine how profound his anguish was on May 1, 2007-the one-year anniversary of our father's death."

Whether Herman felt he had other options, Adam said his brother struggled with his health. "He wasn't sort of passively just being depressed or sad. I always had the sense that he recognized that he had a problem and really wanted to get better."

Before the hurricane and his father's passing, Herman was a different person, friends said. A fiery debater who enjoyed striking up a conversation with anyone, Herman was a lover of music, literature and slam poetry.

"He had a smile that would brighten your day," Kaplan said.

"He loved rap music and hip hop. Not for the commercial aspect of it, but he loved the culture, the mystery and the truth behind it," Lauren Becker '08, who first bonded with Herman over their shared music taste, said.

During his medical leave this semester, Adam said his brother returned to New Orleans for intense counseling and therapy, but he didn't know of any medication Herman was taking at the time.

"In addition to depression and anxiety, he also suffered from back and hip pain," said Assistant Dean of Student Life Alwina Bennett, who was close to Herman. "All semester he told me he couldn't sleep because of the pain in his back. He seemed to be sleep deprived."

Still, when Bennett spoke to Herman on the phone about two weeks ago she said she felt hopeful at the close of the call.

"[Two weeks ago] he was talking about his future," she said.

During a gathering in the Shapiro Campus Center Art Gallery last Wednesday, students, professors and administrators shared their memories of Herman. Many described him as a giving, funny and passionate person, as well as a talented writer and an activist.

Jewish Chaplain Rabbi Allan Lehmann, also a New Orleans native, read several poems, talked about his personal relationship with Herman and urged the crowd not to be crippled by "survivor's guilt."

"You were there for him," Lehmann said. "With all respect, love and honor for him, Bernard did not have to do what he did, and we ought not see him as [a model] in how he chose to end his life."

The funeral took place May 14 at Hebrew Rest Cemetery in New Orleans, where Herman was buried next to his father.

Herman is survived by his mother Mollie Solomon Herman, his brother and his grandmother Betty Solomon.

"Those who knew, admired and cherished him, know how troubled his recent life was," Prof. Stephen Whitfield (AMST), a longtime friend of the Herman family, said. "But his death leaves a chasm that his friends and relatives know can't be filled.