Today I speak with Jeremy Norton. He grew up in D.C. where he studied literature, writing, and whatnot at Boston-area colleges; taught literature at former-military evangelical prep schools in Chattanooga, TN, then arrived in Minneapolis, MN in the fall of 1994. He joined the Minneapolis Fire Department in 2000 after becoming interested through an old high school friend (Jennifer Cornell) who became a mentor and inspiration. He is currently a Captain on Engine Company 17 in south Mpls.
His interest in literature, human nature, cultural studies and the vagaries of human nature provide lenses through which he examines and strives to contextualize the wide range of people and situations emergency response provides him

Jeremy has written a book about the EMS (medical) side of firefighting, to be published in the next year by Univ. Minn. Press. It addresses the gutter end of our health care system, the breakdown of our societal understanding of death and dying, the many forms and consequences of denial, race-class-gender issues in the fire service AND in emergency response, as well as the ongoing damages caused by traditional masculinity--both for emergency responders and for the general public.