Jeffrey S. Gardner

Jeffrey S. Gardner is a Fire Captain with more than 15 years in the fire service, and he has spent over a decade leading a Fire Explorer post for young people who want to follow in his bootsteps. He writes the way he works: honestly, with a lot of heart, and usually with a dog nearby.

His memoir, Who Saves Us?: A Fire Captain's Memoir of Loss and Resilience, looks past the sirens to the part of the job people rarely see: the quiet weight firefighters and medics carry home after the calls are over. It was written with one goal in mind, that no first responder should ever feel they have to carry it alone. Jeffrey is a committed advocate for first responder mental health. He supports the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline and Next Rung, and a portion of his book proceeds goes toward mental health resources for his peers.

Jeffrey also knows that healing sometimes looks like a coloring book and a good laugh. He writes for younger readers too, with Cap & Bubba: A Day at the Fire Station for kids and The Shift Kids, a middle-grade series for children whose parents serve as first responders. For grown-ups there's The Rottweiler Nap Club, inspired by his own Rottweiler, Bubba, whose idea of "on duty" involves a couch and his eyes closed.

When he's not on shift or writing, Jeffrey is spending time with his family. That, of course, includes Bubba.