Award-Winning San Francisco Chronicle Journalist Kevin Fagan on His New Book, “The Lost and the Found”

Author Kevin Fagan

Kevin Fagan, an award-winning journalist and longtime San Francisco Chronicle reporter, brings decades of experience and empathy to his new book, The Lost and the Found. In a riveting conversation at Book Passage, Fagan will discuss powerful, true stories of homelessness, addiction and resilience through the lives of Rita and Tyson — two individuals navigating life on the streets of San Francisco amidst its wealth and inequities.

What inspired you to write The Lost and the Found, and how did your personal experience facing and reporting on homelessness influence the narrative structure of the book?

I think my own experiences with homelessness and poverty gave me extra empathy for what Rita and Tyson went through in their rocky journeys, and I wanted to use that to bring extra depth into showing readers the remarkable qualities of these two people, what their struggles involved and how a guy like me goes about trying to tell this kind of story. 

As the book focuses on San Francisco, one of the wealthiest cities in America, how do you address the paradox of extreme wealth and pervasive homelessness?

I approach homelessness as a human tragedy that a lot of sincere people in San Francisco leadership and citizenry try to alleviate, with a mixture of failure and success. I want people to understand that this tragedy, especially for the most chronically homeless, involves severely broken people who need massive aid to become stable. I hope readers see how hard that is to achieve, and how our nation’s failure to prevent poverty perpetuates the problem.

What do you hope readers will take away from this book? Are there specific policies or social changes you hope it inspires?

I hope readers understand that the most hopeless-looking people sprawled out on the sidewalk, taking drugs or living among mounds of garbage are desperate, hurting people who need our help. Everyone was somebody’s innocent baby at some point; we all have worth. I also want readers to hear me say that I believe the roots of homelessness in our have-or-have-not era of awful economic inequality are national policies of greed, neglect and political indifference that perpetuate poverty in ways not seen in other developed countries. We need better health care, living wages and affordable housing just as a start.

The Lost and the Found: A True Story of Homelessness, Found Family and Second Chances

The Lost and Found, Kevin Fagan

Kevin Fagan offers a deeply moving and incisive look at homelessness through the lives of Rita and Tyson, two unhoused individuals navigating addiction and recovery. Fagan, a Pulitzer Prize-nominated journalist, draws on his extensive reporting to shed light on the systemic and personal struggles of homelessness. From tragedy to hope, this compelling narrative challenges readers to rethink their perceptions and inspires action. 

Fagan will have an event at Book Passage, San Francisco on Wednesday, Feb. 12 at 6:00 p.m.


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Brooks will be in conversation with Michael Lewis at Dominican University of California in partnership with Book Passage on Tuesday, Feb. 4 at 7:00 p.m.

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Tucker will be at Book Passage, Corte Madera on Saturday, Feb. 15 at 1:00 p.m.