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"  The world of private jets might sound glamorous, but the unthinkable dark side\u2014the increasing number of accidents in small airports, for instance\u2014has rightfully gotten more attention recently. In Damian Fowler&amp;#039;s Falling Through Clouds ($25.99, St. Martin&amp;#039;s Press), veteran journalist Fowler takes readers through a true-life tragedy\u2014the story of how Toby Pearson lost his wife in a devastating private plane crash, nursed his critically injured daughters back to health, and battled an insurance juggernaut. We sat down with Fowler to discuss the shortcomings of private planes, Pearson&amp;#039;s underdog story, and the struggle of writing about a tragedy that isn&amp;#039;t his own. T&amp;amp;amp;C: How did you come across the Pearson family story?  DF: A novelist friend heard about it through a friend who knew Toby. He wanted to record what had happened for his daughters. I thought the story had good elements of a bigger narrative that told the tale of somebody struggling and coming through that struggle.  T&amp;amp;amp;C: What&amp;#039;s it like writing about someone else&amp;#039;s tragedy?  DF: That was one of the most difficult elements of writing this book. In news, you&amp;#039;re asking someone to comment rather than asking them to take you back to that moment. I was asking Toby to actually relive these things. That&amp;#039;s a lot of responsibility; you have to be sensitive, yet you have to keep your eye on what you want, which is the underlying story. It was tricky; Toby was guarded. But that&amp;#039;s what helped him get through; he balances his emotions with this control.  T&amp;amp;amp;C: What makes this story the ultimate nightmare? DF: Anyone who&amp;#039;s ever loved anyone has had the thought that you could kiss them at breakfast and never see them again. That&amp;#039;s a fear that probably resides in many people&amp;#039;s hearts, but you don&amp;#039;t think about it daily. Neither did Toby. He lost his wife, but his children survived. So it wasn&amp;#039;t a complete nightmare; there was hope. But one of the things mitigating that is that Toby had to hang on; he had to survive for the girls.  T&amp;amp;amp;C: Is this story symptomatic of a larger problem?  DF: There&amp;#039;s a high percentage of accidents; if you zero in on private planes, there&amp;#039;s very lax regulation going on. And there&amp;#039;s no federal requirement for private pilots to have insurance. There are national security implications about that. But for the most part, pilots are responsible. It&amp;#039;s in their self-interest to have insurance; if they hurt somebody in a crash, they could be sued. It&amp;#039;s a loophole issue. The FAA should close this loophole so that there&amp;#039;s mandatory liability insurance.  T&amp;amp;amp;C: Where are Toby Pearson and his daughters today? DF: The girls are both very physically fit and active. Toby is very protective towards them; he&amp;#039;s still cautious about exposing them to intrusive questions about what happened. Healing changes with each step; pediatric psychologists say that it&amp;#039;s an ongoing process, losing a parent. Without giving away too much, Toby found a way to restore balance and harmony to his family. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/arts-and-culture/reviews/a1922/damian-fowler-falling-through-clouds/>