Jumping Fire: A Smokejumper's Memoir of Fighting Wildfire

· Sold by HMH
4.9
7 reviews
Ebook
400
Pages

About this ebook

This “terrifying, grimly funny” memoir about fighting forest fires in Alaska offers “an affectionate portrait of a fraternity of daredevils” (The New Yorker).

A Los Angeles Times Best Book of the Year
 
Fighting fires since 1965, legendary smokejumper Murry A. Taylor finally hung up his chute after the summer of 2000—the worst fire season in more than fifty years. In Jumping Fire, Taylor recounts in thrilling detail one summer of parachuting out of planes to battle blazes in the vast, rugged wilderness of Alaska, with tales of training, digging fire lines, run-ins with bears, and the heroics of fellow jumpers who fell in the line of duty.
 
This unique memoir, filled with humor, fear, tragedy, joy, and countless stories of man versus nature at its most furious, is a “tale of love and loss, life and death, and sheer hard work, set in an unforgiving and unforgettable landscape” (Publishers Weekly).
 
“Filled with adventure, danger and tragedy.” —The New York Times Book Review
 
“A beautifully crafted, wise yet thrilling book.” —Los Angeles Times

Ratings and reviews

4.9
7 reviews

About the author

Murry A. Taylor was a smokejumper on-and-off for more than thirty years. He was the oldest active smokejumper at the time of his retirement in 2000, and the oldest ever to do the job. He lives in northern California.

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