Anderson Cooper writes about personal pain, Katrina

I have been one of the very few Anderson Cooper supporters around here. While most see him as the bad guy who took over for Aaron Brown, or as "that guy from The Mole," I see him as a solid, veteran reporter who has done a lot and actually earned his job at CNN.

In the new Vanity Fair, there's an excerpt from Cooper's upcoming memoir/book of reportage, Dispatches From The Edge (the Vanity Fair web site has a preview of the article, but you'll have to buy the print edition for the actual article). Cooper mixes the pain and horror of what he saw in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina with the personal story about how the suicide of his older brother Carter affected him and his family. It's quite a read.