Dangerous Books For Boys
June 26, 20099
The New York Times: Norman Ollestad's "Crazy for the Storm," No. 10 on the hardcover nonfiction list this week, gives new meaning to adventure travel. Ollestad was only 11 when a small plane carrying him, his father an dhis father's girlfriend to a ski race slammed into the San Gabriel Mountains west of Los Angeles during a blizzard.
A Fathers Final Lesson
June 21, 2009
News Day: At 11, the author survived a plane crash and blizzard. His macho dad did not
Riders on the Storm -- Norman Ollestad's Escape From Tragedy
June 16, 2009
AOL Asylum: In the grand tradition of survival stories (Alive, Into Thin Air) comes Norman Ollestads adrenalin-charged memoir, Crazy for the Storm. The book is a celebration of Ollestads father, a larger-than-life personality who was both a trial lawyer once employed by Bobby Kennedy and an extreme-sports junkie who lived for surfing and skiing.
Lessons Norman Ollestad's Father Taught Him
June 12, 2009
Los Angeles Times: In Crazy for the Storm the writer recalls how he learned to 'dance' with fear from an adrenaline-seeking dad taken too soon.
A Tale of Family Life, Laced With Thrill Seeking, Adrenaline and Ambivalence
June 9, 2009
New York Times: The story told by Norman Ollestad in Crazy for the Storm is tragic and exotic. It is also simple enough to be summarized easily. Mr. Ollestad was born in 1968 and grew up in wild times, right in the midst of California surfing culture at Topanga Beach. His father, also named Norman, was a daredevil athlete. He addressed his son as Ollestad and goaded the kid to thrill-seeking extremes.
Norman Ollestad's Survival Story
June 9, 2009
FOX Good Day LA Television Segment: Los Angeles (myFOXla.com) - Norman Ollestad was just 11-years-old when he survived a plane crash in the San Gabriel mountains that killed his family. He walked all alone, 8600 feet down to safety.
He drops by Good Day LA to talk about the book he has written chronicling the ordeal.
Plane Crash Victim Releases Memoir 30 Years Later
June 9, 2009
CBS/KCAL 9 Television Segment: Norman Ollestad Survived Crash That Killed His Father.
Crazy for the Storm Author Says Surfing May Have Saved His Life
June 5th, 2009
Quiksilver Art & Culture Blog: Chances are, if you are at the Quiksilver blog, you have some sort of relationship with Surfing. The same goes for Norman Ollestad, author of Crazy for the Storm.
From the age of three, Norman Ollestad was thrust into the world of surfing and competitive downhill skiing by the intense, charismatic father he both idolized and resented. While his friends were riding bikes, playing ball, and going to birthday parties, young Norman was whisked away in pursuit of wild and demanding adventures. Yet it was these exhilarating tests of skill that prepared Boy Wonder, as his father called him, to become a fearless champion- and that ultimately saved his life.
Crazy For The Storm
June 4, 2009
Surfing Magazine Online: How exciting was life for you before you were a teenager? Maybe your folks took you to Disney World one summer. Or maybe you got to go on an "adventure" with your parents on some cross-country trek. Any way you look at it, it's highly doubtful that any of us have lived quite the life that Norman Ollestad did by the time he was 11.
Years After Plane Crash, Survivor Recalls Father
June 3, 2009
ABC's Good Morning America and Nightline: When he was 11 years old, Norman Ollestad survived a plane crash that killed his father and the pilot. His father's girlfriend died shortly after the crash, leaving him to descend an 8,600-foot mountain alone, a nine-hour trek over ice and snow.
Ollestad's Survival Memoir is a Storm of Emotion
June 2, 2009
USA Today: When he was 11 years old, Norman Ollestad survived a plane crash that killed his father and the pilot. His father's girlfriend died shortly after the crash, leaving him to descend an 8,600-foot mountain alone, a nine-hour trek over ice and snow.
The Boy Who Lived to Tell It
June 2009
Men's Journal: "My dad was eager to share his passions. Before kindergarten, he pushed me to ski steeps, and by grammar school he forced me to surf waves twice my height. But when our chartered Cessna crashed on a remote winter mountain, all that hard work paid off...."
NORMAN OLLESTAD studied creative writing at UCLA and attended UCLA Film School. He grew up on Topanga Beach in Malibu and now lives in Venice, California. He is the father of an eight-year-old son.
An Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers