THE NIGHT OF THE COMET is on the required summer reading list for tenth, eleventh, and twelfth graders at Brother Martin High School, an all-boys Catholic school here in New Orleans. Didn’t I always say that Brother Martin was an excellent and discerning school? Go Crusaders!
Brother Martin is run by the Brothers of the Sacred Heart, the same religious gents who educated me in Baton Rouge.
A little history of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart, in case you’re curious:
The order was founded in 1821 in Lyon, France by the Reverend Andre Coindre. His aim was to help boys orphaned during the Reign of Terror. In 1847, at the request of the Bishop of New Orleans, the Brothers sent five missionaries to the US, where they founded their first American school in Mobile, Alabama. The New Orleans school for boys was established in 1869, and the Baton Rouge school in 1894.
Today, there are about 1,200 Brothers of the Sacred Heart serving in 32 countries.
Here’s a picture of the Reverend Andre Coindre, founder:
