No Grass (Paperback)

~ Shawna Legarza (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Wildland firefighters, especially “hotshots,” are a breed alone. It is a lifestyle many will never understand. They are dispatched throughout the Nation, always ready to work in the very worst kind of disaster. They sleep wherever it’s safe and often do not shower for weeks. So why would a young woman, reared on a Nevada cattle ranch, give up the open spaces for a life of danger? This is only one of the questions answered with humor and insight in Shawna Legarza’s memoir, No Grass. After working her way through college as a firefighter, the author was part of the World Trade Center Recovery Efforts, where she met her husband who, like Legarza, was a firefighter. When he took his own life, the author mustered a new brand of courage and formed a non-for profit program to help the many physically and emotionally wounded firefighters, too brave to ask for help. This is a passionately told story, filled with determination and hope.

About the Author

Shawna Legarza, "Legz" as she became known throughout the wildland firefighting community, was raised on a cattle ranch in Northern Nevada. Her adventure as a cowgirl evolves into a career as a wildland firefighter. She has worked on fires throughout the United States and Canada as well as assignments at the World Trade Center Recovery Efforts, Hurricane Rita, and the Greensburg Tornado. She wrote this memoir as a personal reflection of her life only hoping to help overcome the grief of her husband's suicide. Currently, she is a Fire Management Officer for the US Forest Service. The author, who resides in Durango, Colorado, has earned three degrees--two Bachelors and a Master's Degree and is currently enrolled in a doctoral program in Psychology. This is her first book.

Product Details

• Paperback: 182 pages
• Publisher: BookSurge Publishing (June 4, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1439227624
• ISBN-13: 978-1439227626
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #323,034 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Triple Loved This Book!!!, June 21, 2009

By	Valarie Chavis - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book was fantastic. Such a hardworking American family. Seems that these days many of our youth are entitled and don't even know the meaning of a hard days work for honest pay. I don't have children but if I did this book would be required reading. I laughed and cried through the entire book. Shawna's sharp sense of humor is threaded through it all. Bravo to her parents for raising such a confident, strong and independent woman! I believe her Father's motto of "Get It Done" stuck with her through her entire life. It carried right over into her career as a firefighter. While the others were trying to figure what the plan should be she was already working on implenting one and "getting it done"! I also believe what he told her about "the sun will rise tomorrow" came into play while dealing with the devastating loss of her husband.
I highly recommend this book to one and all!!

4.0 out of 5 stars No lulls either, November 5, 2009

By	M. Stuever - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is a rough-cut gem that needs some polish. With the help of a copy editor and publishing house, this self-published book could be a strong force in the realm of firefighting memoirs and life lessons. Looking past the errors, this a book full of true grit, substance, and a genuine look at a wholly western woman. Shawna Legarza is tough. Ranch-bred, trail-honed, and cured on the firelines of North America, Shawna faces life at its hardest angle. Shawna juxtaposes images from her childhood days ranching and working in her family's meat processing business, to her hard-earned climb up the ranks of wildland firefighting to become superintendent of an elite crew. None of this compares though, to rugged challenges she faces "settling down" for the American dream of home ownership, marriage, and pursuing "the good life." Though life may not have been so "good" for Shawna... her writing is full of true, gritty greatness.

5.0 out of 5 stars A Sense of Closure, September 1, 2009

By	Kelly Calahan - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a book you will not put down....I laughed and I cried....I felt like I was there on the ranch with Shawna when she was growing up and deciding what direction she will go in life. We all feel these emotions at some point and after reading her book you realize that its ok if you don't follow the "script" and if life seems to be too much too handle then ask for help...someone will always be there who will listen. Shawna....thank you for writing your book and sharing your life with us...

Kelly...aka...Ellie Mae