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Lessons Learned From a California Wildfire Survivor
An interview about living well in the face of ever-present risk.
California is a land of paradox, unprecedented natural beauty and a range of terrains and environments, a veritable paradise-while at the same time subject to earthquakes, floods and droughts, mudslides, and fires. People who live in the more vulnerable parts of the state learn to live in this tenuous superposition of grace and fragility. One is left wondering whether some of Hollywood’s mythic status depends on Mother Nature and its power of illusion and storytelling, flimsy yet enduring, drawing up the fearsome awe and dizzying wonder of the land.
Like the celluloid film from the golden days of Hollywood, which would bubble and scorch when the projector jammed, interrupting the story, we understand from natural disasters that what seems so solid in our daily lives also is ephemeral, and yet resumes and renews. The immediate devastation leaves us bereft and unhoused-but the lessons learned from fragility challenge us to adapt and develop wisdom, and hopefully learn and prepare.
I first met Robert Rich freshman year at Wesleyan University-he is a brilliant and successful entrepreneur and a brave soul with countless stories which, while true, sometimes strain credulity. He is a true son of Los…
