Jumping Fire

Author: Murry A. Taylor
Publisher: HMH
ISBN: 0547541074
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 481

Book Description
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

Young Men and Fire

Author: Norman MacLean
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022645049X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 370

Book Description
National Book Critics Circle Award Winner: “The terrifying story of the worst disaster in the history of the US Forest Service’s elite Smokejumpers.” —Kirkus Reviews A devastating and lyrical work of nonfiction, Young Men and Fire describes the events of August 5, 1949, when a crew of fifteen of the US Forest Service’s elite airborne firefighters, the Smokejumpers, stepped into the sky above a remote forest fire in the Montana wilderness. Two hours after their jump, all but three of the men were dead or mortally burned. Haunted by these deaths for forty years, Norman Maclean puts together the scattered pieces of the Mann Gulch tragedy in this extraordinary book. Alongside Maclean’s now-canonical A River Runs Through It and Other Stories, Young Men and Fire is recognized today as a classic of the American West. This edition of Maclean’s later triumph—the last book he would write—includes a powerful new foreword by Timothy Egan, author of The Big Burn and The Worst Hard Time. As moving and profound as when it was first published, Young Men and Fire honors the literary legacy of a man who gave voice to an essential corner of the American soul. “A moving account of humanity, nature, and the perseverance of the human spirit.” —Library Journal “Haunting.” —The Wall Street Journal “Engrossing.” —Publishers Weekly

Rise and Fire

Author: Shawn Fury
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 1250062160
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 350

Book Description
"It's hard to believe that there was a time when the jump shot didn't exist in basketball. When the sport was invented in 1891, players would take set shots with both feet firmly planted on the ground ... It took almost forty years before players began shooting jump shots of any kind and sixty-five years before it became a common sight. When the first jump shooting pioneers left the ground, they rose not only above their defenders, but also above the sport's conventions. The jump shot created a soaring offense, infectious excitement, loyal fans, and legends ... [This book] celebrates this crucial shot while tracing the history of how it revolutionized the game, shedding light on all corners of the basketball world"--

Smoke Jumping on the Western Fire Line

Author: Mark Matthews
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780806191041
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 340

Book Description
During the Vietnam era, conscientious objectors received both sympathy and admiration from many Americans. It was not so during World War II. The pacifists who chose to sit out that war--some 72,000 men--were publicly derided as "yellowbellies" or extreme cowards. After all, why would anyone refuse to fight against fascism in "the good war"? This book tells the story of one important group of World War II conscientious objectors: the men who volunteered for Civilian Public Service as U.S. Forest Service smoke jumpers. Based in Missoula, Montana, the experimental smoke-jumping program began in 1939, but before the project could expand, the war effort drained available manpower. In 1942, the Civilian Public Service volunteers stepped in. Smoke jumping soon became the Forest Service's first line of defense against wildfires in the West. Drawing on extensive interviews with World War II conscientious objectors and original documents from the period, Matthews vividly recreates the individual stories of Civilian Public Service smoke jumpers. He also assesses their collective contribution to the development of western wildfire management. By revealing an unknown dimension of American pacifism, Smoke Jumping on the Western Fire Line fills a gap in World War II history and restores the reputation of the brave men who, even in the face of public ostracism, held true to their beliefs and served their country with honor.

Jump Attack

Author: Tim S. Grover
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1476714452
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 272

Book Description
Legendary trainer Tim Grover’s internationally acclaimed training program used by the pros, including Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant—now completely revised, updated, and expanded, with 100 new photos. Since 1989 when Tim Grover began training Michael Jordan, hundreds of elite competitors have turned to Grover to become stronger, faster, and more powerful, both physically and mentally. From Jordan to Kobe Bryant to Dwyane Wade and countless other superstars, Grover’s revolutionary methods have made the best even better, year after year. In Jump Attack, Grover shares the revolutionary program he uses to train the pros. A fitness bible for athletes around the world, this three-phase, twelve-week program has been completely updated with new exercises and workouts as well as cutting-edge information on training, nutrition, longevity, injury prevention, and more. Devised for explosive power, quickness, endurance, and agility, this intensely challenging workout pushes athletes out of their comfort zones, tests their capacity to go harder, and turns “I can’t” into “Just try and stop me.” You don’t have to be an elite athlete to benefit from Grover’s program—but you can attain the mindset of a champion through the physical program outlined in this complete plan. Says Grover: “This is how my pros do it. If you want to become more explosive, stronger, and faster, if you want to jump higher and improve your overall athletic performance in any sport, this is exactly how we do it today: This program is the difference between jumping and taking flight.”

To Build a Fire

Author: Jack London
Publisher: The Creative Company
ISBN: 9781583415870
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 40

Book Description
Describes the experiences of a newcomer to the Yukon when he attempts to hike through the snow to reach a mining claim.

Chasing Fire

Author: Nora Roberts
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101513780
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 344

Book Description
In this #1 New York Times bestseller, Nora Roberts delves into the world of elite firefighters who thrive on danger and adrenaline—men and women who wouldn’t know how to live life if it wasn’t on the edge. Little else in life is as dangerous as fire jumping. But there’s also little else as thrilling—at least to Rowan Tripp. Being a Missoula smoke jumper is in Rowan’s blood: her father is a legend in the field. At this point, returning to the wilds of Montana for the season feels like coming home—even with reminders of the partner she lost last season still lingering in the air. One of the best of this year’s rookie crop, Gulliver Curry is a walking contradiction, a hotshot firefighter with a big vocabulary and a winter job at a kids’ arcade. And though Rowan, as a rule, doesn’t hook up with other smoke jumpers, Gull is convinced he can change her mind... But everything is thrown off balance when a dark presence lashes out against Rowan, looking to blame someone for last year’s tragedy. Rowan knows she can’t complicate things with Gull—any distractions in the air or on the ground could be lethal. But if she doesn’t find someone she can lean on when the heat gets intense, her life may go down in flames.

Smokejumper

Author: Jason A. Ramos
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0062319647
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 199

Book Description
A rare inside look at the thrilling world of smokejumpers, the airborne firefighters who parachute into the most remote and rugged areas of the United States, confronting the growing threat of nature’s blazes. Forest and wildland fires are growing larger, more numerous, and deadlier every year — record drought conditions, decades of forestry mismanagement, and the increasing encroachment of residential housing into the wilderness have combined to create a powder keg that threatens millions of acres and thousands of lives every year. One select group of men and women are part of America's front-line defense: smokejumpers. The smokejumper program operates through both the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. Though they are tremendously skilled and only highly experienced and able wildland firefighters are accepted into the training program, being a smokejumper remains an art that can only be learned on the job. Forest fires often behave in unpredictable ways: spreading almost instantaneously, shooting downhill behind a stiff tailwind, or even flowing like a liquid. In this extraordinarily rare memoir by an active-duty jumper, Jason Ramos takes readers into his exhilarating and dangerous world, explores smokejumping’s remarkable history, and explains why their services are more essential than ever before.

Fire on the Mountain

Author: Dale A. Johnson
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 1435739922
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 148

Book Description
Biography of experiences by an American living in Southeast Turkey and Northern Iraq during and after the first Gulf War.

More Or Less Crazy

Author: Murry Taylor
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781518644764
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 366

Book Description
Return to the summer of '73 and adventure through Alaska as a Smokejumper. In an odyssey of movement and beauty we move back and forth across Alaska, jumping fires from Kodiak Island to the shadows of Denali, and in the winds of Isabel Pass. The smokejumpers themselves are a varied lot - several are ex-Air America bad boys recently back from covert CIA operations in Southeast Asia, and in no mood to take orders from anyone. The rest of the crew is made up of transfers and no-rehires from the jump bases in the Lower 48 where strict, top-down, authoritarian management made it hard, if not impossible, for them to fit in. Being stuck on Fort Wainwright in a dark and dreary hangar, surrounded by chain link fences and gravel lots, and under the eye of the Army Military Police is a recipe for disaster with a healthy serving of rebellion, heroism, pranks and humor thrown in. Adventure with these smokejumpers as they ultimately come together in an outrageous testimony to the joy of living life fully and playfully in one of America's last great true-life adventures.