About the Book

459 pages Reprint edition (June 14, 2001) Harvest Books ISBN: 0156013975
Hardcover - 464 pages (June 2000) • Harcourt ISBN: 0151005893 Starting in June 2000 you can purchase Jumping Fire at: • Barnes and Noble • Amazon

A veteran smokejumper recounts his three decades parachuting out of planes and fighting wildfires in the rugged West, told within the framework of one thrilling season.

During one incendiary summer, Murry Taylor kept an extensive journal of his day-to-day activities as an Alaskan smokejumper. It wasn’t his first season fighting wildfires, and he’s far from being a rookie—he’s been on the job since 1965. Through this narrative of one busy season, Taylor reflects on the years of training, the harrowing, adrenaline-fueled jumps, his brushes with death, the fires he conquered, and the ones that got away. It’s a world full of bravado, one with epic battles of man versus nature, resulting in stories of death-defying defeats and serious injury, and occasionally tragedy. We witness Taylor’s story; learn of the training, preparation, technology, and latest equipment used in fighting wildfires; and get to know his fellow smokejumpers in the ready room, on the tundra, and in the vast forests of one the last great wilderness areas in the world.

Often thrilling and informative and always entertaining, Taylor’s memoir is one of the first autobiographical accounts of a legendary career.

To arrange an interview contact Harcourt Publicity at 629-699-6219/FAX 619-699-6555 or call Victoria Shoemaker at 510-985-1422.

"Jumping Fire" sample available for immediate download:

PROLOGUE (PDF: 25 KB / 4 pages

Murry A. Taylor has been a smokejumper since 1965. He divides his time between Alaska and northern California. Jumping Fire is his first book. Taylor's e-mail address is: murrytay@sisqtel.net • All photographs by Mike McMillan/Spotfire Images • Site by Visual Contact