Tucson Festival of Books

Hotshots: Courage in the Flames


Explore the peril, power, and personal toll of wildfire in America from battling blazes on elite hotshot crews to reporting on catastrophic fires that reshape communities and landscapes. Join authors Kelly Ramsey, River Selby, and Jacob Soboroff as they share firsthand stories of courage, resilience, and the changing face of fire in the West.


Panelists
Kelly Ramsey

Kelly Ramsey is the author of "Wildfire Days." She co-founded The Lighthouse Works, an artists’ residency program, and later worked for the U.S. Forest Service as a wilderness ranger and wildland firefighter....

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River Selby

River Selby is the author of "Hotshot: A Life on Fire," dealing with life as a firefighter. They are currently a Kingsbury and Legacy Fellow at Florida State University, where they are pursuing their Ph....

Jacob Soboroff

Jacob Soboroff is an MSNBC senior political and national correspondent, who comes to the festival with the newly published "Firestorm," an in-depth look at the wildfires that devastated Los Angeles last year....

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Books:
Wildfire Days
A Woman, a Hotshot Crew, and the Burning American West
Kelly Ramsey
Memoir / Essays / Creative Nonfiction
Scribner
June 2025
ISBN 9781668031476
352 pages
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Hotshot
A Life on Fire
River Selby
History / Biography
Grove/Atlantic, Incorporated
August 2025
ISBN 9780802149497
304 pages
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Firestorm
The Great Los Angeles Fires and America's New Age of Disaster
Jacob Soboroff
Current Issues / Politics / Social Science
HarperCollins Publishers
January 2026
ISBN 9780063467965
400 pages
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