8. What Disaster Leaves Behind: Brian Fies on Memory, Loss, and Recovery
In this episode of How to Disaster, Jennifer Gray Thompson speaks with cartoonist and author Brian Fies about A Fire Story, his graphic memoir about losing his home in the 2017 Tubbs Fire. Brian shares how the book began in the first days after the fire, when he was still trying to understand what had happened while also documenting it with the eyes of a storyteller.
Their conversation moves through the realities of disaster recovery: walking through a destroyed neighborhood, navigating insurance, rebuilding, accepting help, and learning what people actually need in the aftermath. Brian also reflects on the role of block captains, neighbors, local leadership, and the quiet ways communities begin to organize when everything familiar has been disrupted.
Jennifer and Brian also talk about memory, art, humor, grief, and the strange mix of loss and connection that can follow disaster. This episode offers a grounded look at what it means to survive, rebuild, and carry both the old life and the new one forward.
Resources:
- How to Disaster
- Learn more about After the Fire USA
- After the Fire USA Resource Library
- LA Rising Podcast with Kim Marshall
- Watch Duty App
- A Fire Story by Brian Fies
- Community Brigade Malibu
- Connect with Jennifer Gray Thompson on LinkedIn
Produced by NOVA: https://novapodcasting.com