OF SO MANY HEARTBREAKING STORIES, AND SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE WRITER KEVIN FAGAN SPENT YEARS REPORTING ON THE ISSUE, AS HE’S NOW RETIRING. HE SPOKE WITH KCRA 3’S RYAN CURRY ABOUT HOW DIFFICULT IT CAN BE FOR SOME PEOPLE TO ESCAPE THAT LIFE. YOU LOOK AT THESE THINGS AND YOU REMEMBER WRITING THE STORIES BECAUSE A GOOD STORY LEAVES A LASTING IMPACT. WE CHARTERED A JET THE NEXT DAY AND WENT TO GROUND ZERO, AND THIS IS DUST FROM THAT CLOUD OF JUNK THAT WAS FLOATING IN THE AIR THAT FOR DAYS, MOMENTS THAT CHANGED U.S. HISTORY. STORIES THAT DEMANDED READER’S ATTENTION. A CAREER TIME CAPSULE OF WHERE KEVIN FAGAN HAS BEEN IN OVER 40 YEARS AS A REPORTER. THIS WAS THE HEADING FOR THAT. THAT DRAWER. KEVIN IS RETIRING FROM THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE. HE WROTE AT THIS DESK, BUT THE REPORTING HAPPENED OUT HERE ON SOME OF SAN FRANCISCO’S HARDEST STREETS, THE EPICENTER OF THE HOMELESS CRISIS. KEVIN AND I WALKED THROUGH SAN FRANCISCO TO WHERE HE REPORTED SOME OF HIS HEAVIEST STORIES. OUR FIRST STOP WAS A PLACE ONCE CALLED HOMELESS ISLAND. THE ISLAND WAS RIGHT HERE, LIKE THIS, AND THERE WERE ABOUT A DOZEN PEOPLE AND THEN MORE WHO WOULD COME IN AND OUT. LUXURY CONDOS OCCUPY ITS FORMER GROUNDS, BUT SOME PLACES LOOK THE SAME, INCLUDING THE BATTLE GROUNDS, WHERE MANY FOUGHT ADDICTION. SOME OF THE ISLANDERS HAVE PUT MIRRORS HERE. THEY’D STICK THEM IN THE IN THE THE VEGETATION HERE. AND THAT WAY, IF YOU NEEDED TO SHOOT UP IN YOUR NECK OR UNDER THE EYELIDS, YOU KNOW, YOU COULD DO THAT. DEVASTATING AND OFTEN SAD STORIES. BUT HE SAW HOPE IN SO MANY LIVES. THERE’S THE LITTLE KID WHO GREW UP. THERE’S THE BABY. THERE’S THE PERSON WHO HAD HOPE. THERE’S THE PERSON WHO HIT A JUNCTURE. THAT LED TO ANOTHER JUNCTURE THAT LED TO THE STREET. YOU SEE THEM AS A PERSON, BUT YOU SEE THEIR STORY. YEAH, YEAH. AND YOU WANT THEM TO SHARE MORE OF IT WITH YOU. HIS NEW BOOK, THE LOST AND THE FOUND DETAILS STORIES OF UNHOUSED PEOPLE REUNITING WITH LOVED ONES, INCLUDING TYSON FOWLER, A HOMELESS MAN LIVING IN THE TENDERLOIN WHOSE BROTHER BARON ASKED KEVIN TO HELP FIND HIS LOST SIBLING. TIME FROZE JUST LONG ENOUGH TO HEAR THE CRUNCH OF DISCARDED NEEDLES AND GLASS METH PIPES UNDERFOOT, LONG ENOUGH FOR BARON TO FOCUS IN ON THE FACE OF THIS BROTHER, WHOM, UNTIL THIS EVENING HE HADN’T BEEN SURE WAS STILL ALIVE. NICE TO SEE YOU, TYSON SAID, AND HE STUCK OUT HIS HAND. NICE TO SEE YOU. GIVE ME A HUG. BARON PULLED HIM CLOSE. TYSON FOLLOWED HIS BROTHER AND WENT TO REHAB. BUT KEVIN’S BOOK EXPLAINS HOW DIFFICULT IT CAN BE FOR PEOPLE ON THE STREETS TO LEAVE AND STAY CLEAN. TYSON UNFORTUNATELY RELAPSED AND DIED OF AN OVERDOSE. FOR A LOT OF THE FOLKS, THEY RARELY HAD A REALLY GOOD LIFE TO BEGIN WITH. I MEAN, IF YOU’RE CHRONICALLY HOMELESS, A LOT OF FOLKS HAVE HAD REALLY HARD TIMES, AS MANY CONTINUE TO STRUGGLE ON CITY STREETS. KEVIN SAYS REHAB IS NOT JUST ABOUT GETTING HOUSING AND GETTING OFF DRUGS. YOU HAVE TO RECREATE, NOT EVEN RECREATE. YOU HAVE TO CREATE NEW LIVES OF OF STABILITY AND HOPE FOR THEM. A TOUGH TASK, BUT AFTER DECADES OF REPORTING, HE KNOWS THERE IS MORE TO LIFE THAN LIVING ON THE STREETS IN SAN FRANCISCO. RYAN CURRY, KCRA THREE NEWS. AND KEVIN’S NEW BOOK WAS RELEASED TODAY. HE’S PLANNING BOOK TOURS AND SPEAKING EVENTS TO TALK ABOUT