Jumping Fire: A Smokejumper's Memoir of Fighting Wildfire in the West

The oldest smoke jumper in the 60-year history of Alaskan firefighting, Taylor gives a detailed and exciting account of his adventures parachuting into the wilderness to combat wildfires during the summer of 1991. This is a tale of love and loss, life and death, and sheer hard work, set in an unforgiving and unforgettable landscape that's second only to Norman Maclean's classic Young Men and Fire. The book begins slowly, as Taylor methodically introduces the reader to his Alaskan locale, the routine of his yearly training and the inevitable list of colorful supporting characters (in this case: Fergie, Quacks and Big Ernie). But the energy picks up as Taylor carefully shows how quiet summer days can give way to unrelenting natural disasters. Between firefighting tales, Taylor reminisces about life at 50, recalling his past adventures, and failed marriages and relationships. Though sometimes bordering on mawkish, these digressions become a sad parallel to the lonely adventure of being a firefighter, and Taylor mercifully does not dwell too long upon his solitary life--his descriptions of how smoke jumpers have died in the line of duty is a constant reminder of the hazards of his job. Finally, Taylor details a horrific fire; he deftly captures not only the savagery of nature, but also the strength of the human spirit and the joy in combating the wild, as Taylor and his colleagues--many of whom have been injured--reveal the passion that made them want to take on the dangers of smoke jumping in the first place. (June)