I’m as prepared as I can be for the Cascadia earthquake, but I wasn’t prepared for what writing this book would mean. My husband remained calm and supportive while our lives were shaken by this high-magnitude, high-intensity journey. My gratitude for his rock-steady presence.
Susan Roxborough, Daniel Germain, and Bridget Sweet, along with the rest of the team at Sasquatch Books, excelled as force multipliers—making this book immeasurably stronger than it would have been otherwise. Thank you for your dedication to this project.
I wish I could list every one of the remarkable people I’ve worked with in the emergency management field who have been generous with their knowledge and support. Absent that, I want to acknowledge the exceptional assistance from Tiffany Brown, Josh Bruce, Krista Carter, Linda Crerar, Tracy DePew, Anna Feigum, Ed Flick, Mike Harryman, Deanna Henry, Eric Holdeman, Matt Marheine, Shannon Marheine, Bill Martin, Paula Negele, Andrew Phelps, Lucianne Phillips, Scott Porter, Kathleen Silva, Stan Thomas, Greg Walsh, and Yumei Wang.
Experts who provided invaluable feedback on technical content include Steven Eberlein, Linda Kozlowski, Dr. Christopher Sanford, and Dr. Ryan Scholz.
Spreading the message of preparedness is my passion. My thanks to all the Cascadia Calling hosts who cleaned their homes, made snacks, and gathered friends, family, and neighbors for two hours of talking about getting ready. The guests who came to the Cascadia Calling gatherings shared questions and answers that helped shape this book. My gratitude to all of them for taking the Cascadia earthquake seriously. Special thanks to Mary Lou Zeek for being the first host and to Dr. Tara Shelby for hosting the most gatherings.
Nearly everyone has a great idea for a book. Getting from an idea to a finished manuscript is the hard part. The late Waverly Fitzgerald, extraordinary writing teacher and coach, helped me turn my idea into a book. The Shipping Group, the accountability team Waverly led in Seattle, provided crucial support and challenge over the long years of skill building. Many thanks to Abigail Carter, Deepali Baumann, Laura Duncan Boss, Josephine Ensign, Judith Gille, Cynthia Hartwig, Theresa McCormick, Jennifer Munro, and Mary Oak.
My family has tolerated receiving overly practical preparedness gifts for years. Thanks to my son Joseph, Karli, Susan, Sara, Carol, and Fara for their willingness to indulge my Cascadia obsession and their patience and support as I worked on this book.