IN THE NEWS

Men's Fitness
Profession: Firefighter; member of the elite San Francisco Rescue Squad No. 2

Fitness routine: Run five times a week four to six miles each time; weight training, five days a week.

Toughest moment: "It was the first time it was my turn to cook in the firehouse. I can walk into a burning building, but the kitchen strikes fear in my heart. I'm a lousy cook, and on top of that a vegetarian. So there I was, trying to impress everyone. I set down this gray mass of stuff in front of these big, starving men, and there was total silence. Turns out they were all waiting to see if tofu would float to the top. I've been on the squad for seven years and I still catch hell for that. All the men are better cooks than I am."

What I want men to know: "Guys, it's OK to get swept off your feet by someone who can also throw you over her shoulder."

What never ceases to amaze me: "Because my twin sister [Alexandra Paul] is one of the stars of Baywatch, people on rescues are always saying to me, 'Hey, you're the woman on Baywatch.' There I am surrounded by sweaty guys, I smell like an ashtray, and all I can think is, 'Do they think a Hollywood star would take a second job like this?' And they never believe me, even when I tell them I'm not my sister. But when you think about it, my job and hers are actually quite similar--lots of waiting around punctuated by moments of extreme chaos."


The Herald

Her book, in fact, is harsh on self-judgment but a testament to the extraordinary courage and kinship of one firefighter for another. "This was never going to be kiss-and-tell literature because what I realised early on was that most of the harassment wasn't heavy-duty malice but born out of fear: people wanting the old days back."


Entertainment Weekly

Paul took the fire-department entrance exam in 1988 for a radio story she wanted to write. Her initial curiosity turned into fascination and then a career. "Most people go to the office and sit at a desk," she says. "When firefighters go to the office, we might birth a baby in the morning, save a drowning surfer in the afternoon, and run into a fire at night. What could be more interesting than that?".


Leah Garchik's column The In Crowd, the San Francisco Chronicle

Fans of Caroline Paul's best-selling "Fighting Fire", about her life as a San Francisco firefighter, will be interested to know that after a bidding war for movie rights, it's now under development for Francis Coppola. Alexandra Paul, formerly of "Baywatch" and currently on "Melrose Place," says "it would be great" to play her twin, "but if Jodie Foster offered to do the part, I would say 'Go for it,' because I really want the movie to do well."

Stanford Magazine

REFLECTING: In her book, Paul grapples with a growing awareness of life's fragility.
When she began her firefighting career, Paul never expected to get a book out of it. But she took to writing letters to friends and family to "process" her experience. Eventually, she realized, she had enough good material for a book. Most of the chapters were written on her laptop at Farley’s Café, a neighborhood hangout. Reviewers have praised Paul’s insight and elegant, sometimes lyrical writing. "By the end of Fighting Fire, the deep roar and shrill siren of a passing fire truck will evoke much more for readers than the obligation to get out of the way," wrote the San Francisco Chronicle critic. She had help and advice from fellow writers Jim Paul (no relation), a 1984-85 Stegner fellow in poetry, novelist Po Bronson, ’86, and others.

 
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