Pico Iyer

raced into a car and drove down the driveway, not thinking that a car was probably the worst place to be. And I think actually having my mother's aging, panting cat in my lap for three hours as we were encircled by flames was a great help because it allowed me to concentrate on keeping the cat alive and not just to think how vulnerable I was feeling.

And I think also it was much easier for me to go through that whole experience because I'd been in the midst of the fire. My poor mother, at the end of that evening, just received a phone call from me because she was away in Florida saying, you've lost everything in the world. Your whole 60 years has been wiped out.

And I think also it was much easier for me to go through that whole experience because I'd been in the midst of the fire. My poor mother, at the end of that evening, just received a phone call from me because she was away in Florida saying, you've lost everything in the world. Your whole 60 years has been wiped out.

And I think also it was much easier for me to go through that whole experience because I'd been in the midst of the fire. My poor mother, at the end of that evening, just received a phone call from me because she was away in Florida saying, you've lost everything in the world. Your whole 60 years has been wiped out.

And of course, she felt powerless in a way that I didn't because I felt so close to losing my life that at the end of that evening, losing all my possessions wasn't the end of the world.

And of course, she felt powerless in a way that I didn't because I felt so close to losing my life that at the end of that evening, losing all my possessions wasn't the end of the world.

And of course, she felt powerless in a way that I didn't because I felt so close to losing my life that at the end of that evening, losing all my possessions wasn't the end of the world.

Yes. And for 45 minutes, we were actually right underneath the house. So I could see the flames systematically making their way through our living room. And then moving down to my bedroom where all my childhood mementos and photos and toys were. And then going on to my office and then really reducing my next eight years of writing. My next three books were all in handwritten notes to ash.

Yes. And for 45 minutes, we were actually right underneath the house. So I could see the flames systematically making their way through our living room. And then moving down to my bedroom where all my childhood mementos and photos and toys were. And then going on to my office and then really reducing my next eight years of writing. My next three books were all in handwritten notes to ash.

Yes. And for 45 minutes, we were actually right underneath the house. So I could see the flames systematically making their way through our living room. And then moving down to my bedroom where all my childhood mementos and photos and toys were. And then going on to my office and then really reducing my next eight years of writing. My next three books were all in handwritten notes to ash.

And again, probably it was a good thing that I could witness that and to realize that it was inescapable. There's nothing I or anyone could have done to prevent the force of that fury.

And again, probably it was a good thing that I could witness that and to realize that it was inescapable. There's nothing I or anyone could have done to prevent the force of that fury.

And again, probably it was a good thing that I could witness that and to realize that it was inescapable. There's nothing I or anyone could have done to prevent the force of that fury.

In a very practical way, it was a fire that moved me to seek out monastic retreats because I was sleeping on a friend's floor for many months as my mother and I slowly reconstructed our lives. And another friend came in and he saw me there and said, Pico, you can do better than this. And he told me about this Benedictine monastery three and a half hours up the coast.

In a very practical way, it was a fire that moved me to seek out monastic retreats because I was sleeping on a friend's floor for many months as my mother and I slowly reconstructed our lives. And another friend came in and he saw me there and said, Pico, you can do better than this. And he told me about this Benedictine monastery three and a half hours up the coast.

In a very practical way, it was a fire that moved me to seek out monastic retreats because I was sleeping on a friend's floor for many months as my mother and I slowly reconstructed our lives. And another friend came in and he saw me there and said, Pico, you can do better than this. And he told me about this Benedictine monastery three and a half hours up the coast.

And he said, well, if nothing else, you'll have a bed to sleep in there. You'll have a big desk. You'll have a beautiful walled private garden overlooking the Pacific Ocean, hot showers everywhere. food, all for $30 a night. And so it was the fact of being stripped down to nothing that made a Catholic monastery seductive to me, or the notion of any bed to sleep in appealing to me.

And he said, well, if nothing else, you'll have a bed to sleep in there. You'll have a big desk. You'll have a beautiful walled private garden overlooking the Pacific Ocean, hot showers everywhere. food, all for $30 a night. And so it was the fact of being stripped down to nothing that made a Catholic monastery seductive to me, or the notion of any bed to sleep in appealing to me.

And he said, well, if nothing else, you'll have a bed to sleep in there. You'll have a big desk. You'll have a beautiful walled private garden overlooking the Pacific Ocean, hot showers everywhere. food, all for $30 a night. And so it was the fact of being stripped down to nothing that made a Catholic monastery seductive to me, or the notion of any bed to sleep in appealing to me.

But in a deeper way, when I think back on it, I remember that as soon as a firetruck finally got to us and told me that it was safe to drive downtown, I went straight to a supermarket and I bought a toothbrush. And that toothbrush was literally the only thing I had in the world. And then I went to a friend's house to sleep on the floor.