John Norman Maclean
Encyclopedia
John N. Maclean is an author and journalist best known for his 1999 book, Fire on the Mountain
, about the deadly South Canyon Fire
on Storm King Mountain
(in Garfield County, Colorado), in 1994. Maclean, a former Washington correspondent for The Chicago Tribune, has written three books about wildfire. The books are non-fiction, but novelistic in approach. Fire on the Mountain, the first, was the Mountains and Plains Booksellers Association's best nonfiction title of 1999. Maclean is the son of Montana
writer Norman Maclean
, who wrote the well-known novella A River Runs Through It.
John N. Maclean's second book, Fire and Ashes: On the Frontlines of American Wildfire, was published in June 2003 by Henry Holt & Co. and named a "best book" of the year by the Chicago Tribune. The book, a collection of stories and essays, chronicles the 1953 Rattlesnake Fire
on the Mendocino National Forest in northern California, the 1999 Sadler Fire in Nevada, and the 1949 Mann Gulch Fire
in Montana. The Mann Gulch Fire was the subject of Norman Maclean's Young Men and Fire
, a book published posthumously with John's assistance. The two fires, at Montana's Mann Gulch and Colorado's Storm King Mountain, have many similarities: both involved the deaths of smokejumpers, and both fires burned in steep canyons with similar fuels and vegetation, and both fires exhibited extreme fire behavior that should have been foreseen - with fatal results. There are echoes of those fires as well in the Thirtymile Fire, the subject of Maclean's third book, The Thirtymile Fire: A Chronicle of Bravery and Betrayal, published by Henry Holt in June 2007. Maclean currently is working on a book about Southern California's Esperanza Fire of 2006, which killed a five-man Forest Service engine crew, and the subsequent trial and conviction of Raymond Oyler, the arsonist convicted of setting the fire. Oyler was sentenced to death after being found guilty on five charges of first-degree murder and numerous other charges related to a series of arson fires.
for 30 years before he resigned in 1995 to begin a second career writing books. Maclean was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1943, the second of two children. He attended the University of Chicago school system through high school and graduated from Shimer College, then in Mt. Carroll, Illinois. An honor student at Shimer, he received the school’s distinguished alumni award in 1975.
Maclean started his journalistic career in 1964 as a police reporter and rewrite man with the legendary City News Bureau of Chicago. He went to work for the Chicago Tribune the following year. He married Frances Ellen McGeachie in 1968; they have two adult sons, Daniel and John Fitzroy. In 1970, Maclean was assigned to the Washington Bureau of the Tribune. As diplomatic correspondent there he covered the State Department and was a regular on the "Kissinger Shuttle," covering much of the "shuttle diplomacy" of Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. Maclean was a Nieman Fellow in Journalism at Harvard University for the 1974-75 academic year. He became the Tribune’s Foreign Editor in Chicago in 1988. He resigned from the newspaper in 1995 to write Fire on the Mountain.
Maclean, a frequent speaker at wildland fire academies, workshops, and conventions, is a member of the Seeley Lake Volunteer Fire Department and is qualified as a federal public information officer.
Fire on the Mountain (1999 book)
Fire on the Mountain is a 1999 non-fiction book by John Norman Maclean that describes the most famous wildland fire of the late 20th century. The book describes the events and aftermath of the South Canyon Fire on Storm King Mountain on July 6, 1994 in Colorado, which took the lives of 14...
, about the deadly South Canyon Fire
South Canyon Fire
The South Canyon Fire was a 1994 wildfire that took the lives of 14 wildland firefighters on Storm King Mountain, near Glenwood Springs, Colorado on July 6th, 1994...
on Storm King Mountain
Storm King Mountain (Colorado)
Storm King Mountain is a mountain in the White River National Forest of the Rocky Mountains, northwest of Glenwood Springs, Colorado, in northeastern Garfield County. It is on the north side of the Colorado River and Interstate 70 , between Glenwood Springs and New Castle.It is the site of the...
(in Garfield County, Colorado), in 1994. Maclean, a former Washington correspondent for The Chicago Tribune, has written three books about wildfire. The books are non-fiction, but novelistic in approach. Fire on the Mountain, the first, was the Mountains and Plains Booksellers Association's best nonfiction title of 1999. Maclean is the son of Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
writer Norman Maclean
Norman Maclean
Norman Fitzroy Maclean was an American author and scholar noted for his books A River Runs Through It and Other Stories and Young Men and Fire .-Biography:...
, who wrote the well-known novella A River Runs Through It.
John N. Maclean's second book, Fire and Ashes: On the Frontlines of American Wildfire, was published in June 2003 by Henry Holt & Co. and named a "best book" of the year by the Chicago Tribune. The book, a collection of stories and essays, chronicles the 1953 Rattlesnake Fire
Rattlesnake Fire
The Rattlesnake Fire was a wildfire started by an arsonist on July 9, 1953 in Grindstone Canyon in Mendocino National Forest in California. One Forest Service employee and 14 volunteer firefighters from New Tribes Mission perished...
on the Mendocino National Forest in northern California, the 1999 Sadler Fire in Nevada, and the 1949 Mann Gulch Fire
Mann Gulch fire
The Mann Gulch fire of 1949 was a wildfire in the Helena National Forest, Montana, United States, which claimed the lives of 13 firefighters including 12 smoke jumpers who were parachuted into the area to fight the fire, but were unable to control it....
in Montana. The Mann Gulch Fire was the subject of Norman Maclean's Young Men and Fire
Young Men and Fire
Young Men and Fire is a non-fiction book written by Norman Maclean. It is an account of Norman Maclean's research of the Mann Gulch fire of 1949 and the 13 men who died there. The fire occurred in Mann Gulch in the Gates of the Mountains Wilderness on August 5...
, a book published posthumously with John's assistance. The two fires, at Montana's Mann Gulch and Colorado's Storm King Mountain, have many similarities: both involved the deaths of smokejumpers, and both fires burned in steep canyons with similar fuels and vegetation, and both fires exhibited extreme fire behavior that should have been foreseen - with fatal results. There are echoes of those fires as well in the Thirtymile Fire, the subject of Maclean's third book, The Thirtymile Fire: A Chronicle of Bravery and Betrayal, published by Henry Holt in June 2007. Maclean currently is working on a book about Southern California's Esperanza Fire of 2006, which killed a five-man Forest Service engine crew, and the subsequent trial and conviction of Raymond Oyler, the arsonist convicted of setting the fire. Oyler was sentenced to death after being found guilty on five charges of first-degree murder and numerous other charges related to a series of arson fires.
Biography
John Maclean was a writer, editor, and reporter for the Chicago TribuneChicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
for 30 years before he resigned in 1995 to begin a second career writing books. Maclean was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1943, the second of two children. He attended the University of Chicago school system through high school and graduated from Shimer College, then in Mt. Carroll, Illinois. An honor student at Shimer, he received the school’s distinguished alumni award in 1975.
Maclean started his journalistic career in 1964 as a police reporter and rewrite man with the legendary City News Bureau of Chicago. He went to work for the Chicago Tribune the following year. He married Frances Ellen McGeachie in 1968; they have two adult sons, Daniel and John Fitzroy. In 1970, Maclean was assigned to the Washington Bureau of the Tribune. As diplomatic correspondent there he covered the State Department and was a regular on the "Kissinger Shuttle," covering much of the "shuttle diplomacy" of Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. Maclean was a Nieman Fellow in Journalism at Harvard University for the 1974-75 academic year. He became the Tribune’s Foreign Editor in Chicago in 1988. He resigned from the newspaper in 1995 to write Fire on the Mountain.
Maclean, a frequent speaker at wildland fire academies, workshops, and conventions, is a member of the Seeley Lake Volunteer Fire Department and is qualified as a federal public information officer.