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

by Kevin Fagan

Overview

A “riveting, deeply compassionate” (The New York Times) narrative of homelessness, despair, and hope.

Award-winning San Francisco Chronicle journalist Kevin Fagan has been covering homelessness for decades and has spent extensive time on the streets for his reporting. In The Lost and the Found, Fagan introduces us to Rita and Tyson, two unhoused people who were rescued by their families with the help of his own reporting, and chronicles their extraordinary struggles to pull themselves out of homelessness and addiction.

Having experienced homelessness himself, Fagan has always brought a deep understanding to his subjects and has written here more than just a story of individuals experiencing homelessness, but also a compelling look at the link between homelessness and addiction and an incisive commentary on housing and equality. The Lost and the Found ends with both enormous tragedy and triumph to humanize this national calamity, forever changing the way we see the unhoused.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781668017111
Publisher:	Atria/One Signal Publishers
Publication date:	02/11/2025
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 8.70(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Kevin Fagan is a longtime, award-winning reporter, having spent over three decades at the San Francisco Chronicle. He won the Bill Workman Award from the San Francisco Press Club, the James Aronson Award for Social Justice in Journalism, and the John S. Knight Journalism Fellowship at Stanford University. He has also been nominated several times for the Pulitzer Prize. During his career, he has covered homelessness, the 9/11 terror attacks, serial killers, California’s wildfires, and much more. Follow him on X @KevinChron.

Editorial Reviews

Offers a riveting, deeply compassionate look at their lives by following two longtime homeless denizens of the city.”
—Heather Night, The New York Times

“Moves beyond predictable policy critique to offer a powerful reminder of the moral side of the crisis.... Fagan attempts to shake the reader out of a complacent state of mind... His book has the deft touch that can come only when the ego of the journalist ebbs into something far more substantial and convincing.... An earnest reminder of the moral side of the crisis: why it is still worth fighting for the basic dignity of all people, especially those who live and die in the teeth of the American contradiction.”
—Jay Caspian Kang, The New Yorker

"For those who seek to understand how anyone could end up this way, and who might want to help in some way, this book provides an often difficult—but necessary—experience."
—Booklist

“Fagan traces the uniquely American slippery slope that leads to homelessness. A haunting proposal that the homelessness crisis is caused above all by a startling lack of compassion in American society.”
—Publisher's Weekly (starred review)

“With compassion, an eye for detail, and an instinct for the human stories behind the statistics, Fagan gives voice to the often-anonymous individuals propelled on downward spirals that take them from suburbia and middle-class comforts to mean streets rife with panhandling, AIDS, fentanyl, disease, and death. Powerful, offering a humanizing and hopeful portrait of an abiding problem. A rare look at citizens often denied their dignity.”
—Kirkus Reviews (starred)

"Fagan is a reporting legend in San Francisco, and this book shows why. An astonishing feat of immersive journalism and empathy, The Lost and the Found traces how two people ended up living on the city streets, addicted to drugs, separated from their families — and how they ultimately fought to save themselves, with help from loved ones who never gave up searching. It will forever change the way readers think about homelessness."
—Jason Fagone, author of the bestselling The Woman Who Smashed Codes

“The American epidemic of homelessness and addiction cannot be understood or solved without knowing the stories of the people living on our streets. Kevin Fagan's The Lost and the Found is an unflinching examination of a human catastrophe and a heart-felt portrait of people we can readily recognize as our brothers and sisters. Against all odds, they cling to hope. You can't help but root for them in this piercing, masterful study of how the crisis began and how, with political will and moral conviction, we can end the suffering.”
—Steve Lopez, bestselling author of The Soloist: A Lost Dream, An Unlikely Friendship, and the Redemptive Power of Music

“The most authentic account of homelessness by the author who literally slept next to his subjects on the cold pavement of San Francisco. The book is riveting and painful, hopeful and depressing. Kevin Fagan captures the desperation of those on the street who simply want to survive and their attempts to overcome their addiction. I couldn’t put the book down. It’s a must read for anyone who wants to understand this vexing problem in our society. Kevin’s humanity is breathtaking.”
—Congresswoman Jackie Speier (ret), author of Undaunted

“Hundreds of books have been published on the homeless. Forget them—read The Lost and the Found. There's nothing out there like it. Kevin Fagan spent decades immersed in the lives of two people who many view as forgettable human wreckage on a sidewalk. The nightmare of America’s tent cities is told through the stories of Rita and Tyson. The ‘homeless’ become human. Real people whose lives we care about. An ink-stained Kevin, notebook in hand, practices old-school shoeleather reporting: he listens. That's our job as journalists. Kevin really listens. Bro, you got great ears.”
—Dale Maharidge, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning And Their Children After Them and American Doom Loop

“Fagan has been there - homeless at one time himself, now on the streets as a journalist - he is an astute chronicler of the misery and aspirations of our homeless neighbors. For anyone who wants more insight and understanding, a street level view, either to be more empathetic or to take action - The Lost and the Found is a primer. You can trust Fagan not to romanticize or politicize. He’s straight up, savvy, and realistic.”
—Philip Mangano, CEO, The American Round Table to Abolish Homelessness and former “Homelessness Czar” under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

From the Publisher

★ 2024-11-09
Putting a face on people who don’t have homes.

The homeless epidemic afflicts every American city, and yet San Francisco has often been designated by the national news media as the homeless capital of America. After all, as veteranSan Francisco Chronicle reporter Kevin Fagan writes, “If you have to be homeless, there’s no better place than San Francisco. This is where the booze and dope are plentiful, the cops are lax, and the homeless culture is so widespread you can disappear into it.” With compassion, an eye for detail, and an instinct for the human stories behind the statistics, Fagan gives voice to the often-anonymous individuals propelled on downward spirals that take them from suburbia and middle-class comforts to mean streets rife with panhandling, AIDS, fentanyl, disease, and death. When needed, Fagan brings in facts: 35% of San Francisco’s unhoused are Black, yet they make up only 6% of the population. Born and raised in the Bay Area and briefly homeless himself, Fagan knows what it’s like to be without a bed at the end of the day. In his book, he focuses on a traffic island that’s dubbed “Homeless Island.” Perched between the Tenderloin and Mission districts, it’s not far from City Hall. Fagan contrasts Homeless Island with the beauty and wealth of a city that has long prided itself on its caring—but that often doesn’t want to acknowledge the waves of refugees from elsewhere who arrive without resources and must find a space on a sidewalk or under a bridge. “The Shame of the City,” aChronicle series on homelessness that Fagan produced, helped inspire California Gov. Gavin Newsom to create “Homeward Bound,” a program that reunites the unhoused with family and friends. Like that series, this book is powerful, offering a humanizing and hopeful portrait of an abiding problem.

A rare look at citizens often denied their dignity.

Kirkus Reviews