Hail of Fire: A Man and His Family Face Natural Disaster, by Randy Fritz
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Hail of Fire: A Man and His Family Face Natural Disaster, by Randy Fritz
Ebook PDF Hail of Fire: A Man and His Family Face Natural Disaster, by Randy Fritz
Every year people watch in shock as homes are destroyed and communities devastated by natural disasters. As the media arrives, the information that is reported is mainly statistical. The horror of living through and recovering from the experience is rarely told because almost no one has the emotional strength to speak out while the smoke is still in the air or the floodwaters are still receding. The stories of a disaster’s most important effectswhich unfold invisibly for months and sometimes yearsare never told. That is, until now.Hail of Fire: A Man and His Family Face Natural Disaster is an intimate account of the third worst wildfire in modern U.S. history, and the most destructive in the history of Texas. It is a memoir about what happened to Randy Fritz, an artist turned politician turned public policy leader, and his family during and after, combining a searing account of the fire as it grew to apocalyptic strength with universal themes of loss, grief, and the rebuilding of one’s life after a calamitous event.The wildfire itself was traumatic to those who witnessed it and suffered its immediate aftermath. But the most significant impact came in the months and years that followed.
Hail of Fire: A Man and His Family Face Natural Disaster, by Randy Fritz- Amazon Sales Rank: #558702 in Books
- Published on: 2015-06-12
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 9.10" h x 1.00" w x 6.10" l, .0 pounds
- Binding: Hardcover
- 320 pages
Review Randy Fritz’s glorious book, Hail of Fire, reminds us that at its core Texas is about the land. The best among us are those who love the land in the kind of heart-stopping way Fritz loves the Lost Pines of Bastrop County. I grew up in Deep East Texas among the loblollies, which became for me symbols of life itself and the possibility of life after life. So I found myself weeping with gratitude for the graciousness of Fritz’s descriptions of loblollies as iconic sculptures and of his contemplation of them as living creatures among us. A man who can grieve the loss of a forest is a man who can lead us to a conversation about the importance of telling our stories of losses of all kinds. Whether he’s describing ravaged ecosystems, existential suffering, or fatherly concerns for his daughters, Fritz’s voice rings true. If you’ve ever loved a treeor a persondo yourself a favor: read this book, because at its core love in all its splendor and sadness is what it’s about.” Jan Jarboe Russell, author of The Train to Crystal City"The power of the book is in the recovery [Fritz] finds mindfulness and acceptance” and the strength to make a fresh start in a place with haunted memories." Kirkus ReviewsRandy Fritz has written a mesmerizing account of the Bastrop fire, the worst in Texas history and one of the worst ever nationally. The heart of Hail of Fire is how an everyday citizen survives the angst and awfulness of a natural disaster. Highly recommended!” Douglas Brinkley, author of The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast"As Fritz and his family deal with shock, instability, and the stress involved in trying to move forward, their perseverance and strength, and that of those around them, demonstrate that life definitely can rise from the ashes."Booklist"A roller coaster ride.... brutally honest, intimate and affecting."Austin American-Statesman"Though the title of his memoir of the 2011 Bastrop wildfire might suggest that readers will be placed right in the middle of one of the worst conflagrations in Texas history, this Lost Pines resident is more interested in what followed: the displacement of his family after the loss of their house, and the fraught debate over whether to rebuild or walk away from their longtime home."Texas Monthly"In this painstakingly written story of ruin and renewal, Fritz eloquently reflects on how the events of the Bastrop fire of September 2011 and their aftermath transformed him, his family and the lives of their closest friends and neighbors."San Antonio Express-News"Every time a fire destroys a family’s home, the media shows up right away to cover the disaster and report what’s happened. But not very often does the media ever tell you what happens after the fire because most victims don’t have the emotional strength to speak out while the smoke is still in the air. This story is told through the eyes of Randy Fritz who experienced the third worst wildfire in modern U.S. history. He tells the story of grief, loss and how his family rebuilt their lives after the calamitous event."—San Francisco Book Review"Fritz viscerally conveys the horror, loss, and regret. ... Fritz’s engaging narrative is interwoven with flashbacks that serve to flesh out his family’s lives and powerfully convey what has been lost. ... The facts are compelling and the science of wildfires as explained in layman’s terms by Fritz is fascinating."—Lone Star Literary Life"Fritz writes with searing honesty about the traumatic event and its aftermath, and the slow journey to recovery from sudden psychological and material devastation."—Santa Fe New Mexican
About the Author Randy Fritz is the former chief operating officer of the Texas Department of State Health Services, the state’s public and mental health agency. He helped coordinate the state’s response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and led the team that implemented the Children’s Health Insurance Program in Texas. Fritz lives in Bastrop, Texas, with his wife, Holly, and their youngest daughter, Miranda.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. very well written and readers are sensitively moved through the external and internal challenges of rebuilding life and home aft By SR Randy Fritz raises a widow and opens wide a door into his experiences before, during and particularly after the tragedy of fire. This memoir is insightful, heart-felt, very well written and readers are sensitively moved through the external and internal challenges of rebuilding life and home after great loss. As a therapist, I was impressed by the author’s authenticity and willingness to confront his reluctance to search for and commit to mental/spiritual health care in this time of complicated grief. Most of us will (at some time and in some form) face our own “fires”. Much can be found on these pages to prepare us for moving past stigmas, accepting the limits of self-reliance and finding the humble yet powerful strength necessary to reach out for assistance on the road to healing and recovery . SR
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. So much more than property is lost in massive forest fire By Hall Ways In Hail of Fire, Randy Fritz shares with readers the profound emotional impact of the 2011 forest fires that devastated Bastrop County, Texas. By the time the fires had swept through nearly fifty-five square miles, over seventeen hundred families had lost their homes, including author Randy Fritz.I expected the family's escape and recovery from the fire to be more central to the story, but it was actually pretty anticlimactic -- they were told to evacuate and they did it, and the close call that the author had in returning to gather some belongings was only realized much later in the book. Also, where I expected the family to go through real, physical hardship at being homeless and without any possessions, they were immeasurably blessed and minimally inconvenienced. Fritz never downplays their material and physical blessings; rather, he mourns the spiritual losses of an entire ecosystem - and HIS beloved pine trees.Fritz tells his story two ways: he begins by leading up to the fires, but he makes frequent digressions into the past, telling stories about his early days in Bastrop County. There is a great deal of dialogue, and his side stories are interesting and contribute to readers better understanding Fritz and his values. The real meat of Hail of Fire is Fritz's struggle to regain control of his emotional well-being and make some measure of peace with his former friend, fire. When he finally realizes that "grief and loss and regret and anger and guilt cannot be washed away through force of will or stoical silence," the healing begins.Full review on Hall Ways Blog http://kristinehallways.blogspot.com/2015/09/hail-of-fire-man-his-family-face.html
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. How do you cope when the site of your happiest memories is also the site of your saddest? By Texasbooklover MemoirRandy FritzHail of Fire: A Man and His Family Face Natural DisasterSan Antonio: Trinity University PressHardcover, 978-1595342591 (also available in ebook)320 pages, $24.95June 12, 2015"At least seventy thousand wildfires happen every year in America, and most regenerate healthy forests, culling underbrush, improving the soil, and unspooling the life resting inside pinecones....Some of them shed their better natures, mutating into something dangerous enough that heavy equipment and elite firefighters must be called in....Of those, only a few turn into criminals, taking lives and destroying homes. But in the modern era, there have been only two wildfires, both in California, more vicious and pitiless than the one that changed my life after nearly killing me."Hail of Fire: A Man and His Family Face Natural Disaster is Randy Fritz's memoir about the Bastrop County, Texas, wildfire of 2011 -- the most destructive in Texas history -- that incinerated the Lost Pines area (almost fifty-five square miles) and left nearly 1,700 families (including the Fritz family) homeless.Fritz viscerally conveys the horror, loss, and regret he experienced. He finds that the John Wayne personality traits that served him well before the fire -- antiauthoritarian, argumentative, stubborn, self-absorbed, prideful bordering on hubristic -- fail him utterly when depression and the five stages of grief set in. After a diagnosis of PTSD, Fritz finds relief in therapy, surprising himself. "I was a fifty-six-year-old adolescent when the fire happened....But since the fire, maybe for the first time in my life, I consider myself a grown-up. Instead of strong opinions and a need to defend them, now I have one sole unshakable conviction: the futility of dogmatic belief. What could be worse than certitude for a self-aware being in a universe of endless ambiguity and countless contradictions?"Fritz's engaging narrative is interwoven with flashbacks that serve to flesh out his family's lives and powerfully convey what has been lost. His descriptions of the Lost Pines as a primordial and spiritual "private arboretum", "a dense forest of mature loblolly pines, some of which soared nearly a hundred feet, with four-foot diameters" are deeply affecting in their stark contrast to his imagery post-fire: "It was like the landscape had been flayed, the skin of life surgically peeled off."The facts are compelling and the science of wildfires as explained in layman's terms by Fritz is fascinating. For instance, horizontal roll vortices are "flipped-on-their-side twisters...like a conveyor belt that allows the fire to glide across the forest's ceiling." Did I mention it's also terrifying?In the end he makes a tentative peace with the fire. "I finally came to understand an essential paradox of a natural or personal disaster. While the wildfire seemed unbelievable, the more unbelievable thing was the general absence of catastrophe in my life despite what surrounds me every minute of every day." Wounded and brought low by nature, Fritz is also healed by her.How do you cope when the site of your happiest memories is also the site of your saddest? Can there be a new normal and, if so, how do you get there? Fritz's goal in writing this book is to help others in the aftermath of disaster and he has succeeded, in both practical and emotional terms.Originally published in Lone Star Literary Life.
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