After the fire, they had nothing.
To their surprise, they also had everything.
You may recall the story of Jan LeHecka Pascoe and her husband, John, who spent six terrified hours in a neighbor's swimming pool, slipping below the surface to avoid the flames and embers, coming up for air, then slipping into the water again as a deadly, wind-whipped firestorm consumed their home, their neighborhood and very nearly cost them their lives.
Something about their story captured imaginations. Perhaps it was simply that it had a happy ending _ they survived, together, by their own wits _ when so many others perished in October's California wine country fires. At first light, when the fire died down, they got out of the pool. Holding hands, covered in soot and shivering in the 40-degree chill, they walked until they found a sheriff's deputy, who said the couple walking toward him looked like "zombies coming out of the ash."
They were deluged with requests for interviews and TV appearances, which they turned down. The Weather Channel still wants them for a survival special. A literary agent approached them about writing a book and is shopping a proposal. Even strangers in San Francisco, where they sought refuge with family, recognized them.
"We went into the Balboa Cafe one afternoon," said John, 70. "The waitress came up to us and said, 'Are you the pool people?' And she started crying. And we got up. I gave her a big hug, and Jan gave her a big hug."
"Everyone wants to hug us," said Jan, 65. "And I love it."
