Eric Blehm
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Eric Blehm

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Eric Blehm is the award-winning author of The New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers Fearless and The Only Thing Worth Dying For. His book The Last Season won the National Outdoor Book Award and was named by Outside magazine as one of the “greatest adventure biographies ever written.”

Blehm got his start in journalism writing for Powder and then TransWorld SNOWboarding in the early 1990s where he became editor in chief before moving on to freelance. In 1999, Blehm was the first journalist to accompany and keep pace with an elite Army Ranger platoon on a training mission for the feature article “Painted Demons” (POV magazine). His access into the Special Operations community and reportage set an important milestone for American war journalism two years before reporters gained widespread embedded status with the U.S. military during the global war against terrorism. Blehm’s immersion with the Rangers also led him to write the account of an elite team of eleven Green Berets who changed the course of a nation’s history while operating in the hinterland of Taliban-held southern Afghanistan just weeks after 9/11 (The Only Thing Worth Dying For/HarperCollins). His next book, Fearless (Waterbrook/Multnomah; Random House), told the heartrending and inspiring story of Naval Special Warfare Operator (SEAL) Adam Brown, who battled addiction and overcame devastating injuries during his redemptive rise to join the hallowed ranks of SEAL Team SIX. Blehm followed Fearless with a deep dive into the 1960s with Legend (Crown Books, Penguin RandomHouse)—the unforgettable account of the U.S. Army’s 240th Assault Helicopter Company and Green Beret Medal of Honor recipient Staff Sergeant Roy Benavidez, who risked everything to rescue a Special Forces team trapped behind enemy lines in Cambodia during the Vietnam War.

In, The Darkest White, A Mountain Legend and the Avalanche that Took Him (HarperCollins), Blehm returned to his mountain roots to tell the story of snowboarding’s original superstar Craig Kelly. Known as the sport’s first true professional, Kelly walked away from the fame and fortune associated with competition to return to the powdery backcountry that originally drew him to his calling, and ultimately took his life. “The Darkest White is a gripping and heartfelt story of a bold, short life well-lived,” says New York Times bestselling author Hampton Sides. “Not just a terrific story of an amazing life,” adds number one New York Times bestselling author of The Terminal List series, Jack Carr, “not just the origin story of an entire sport, but a riveting disaster narrative that builds tension masterfully.” It is “… a must read,” says Tony Hawk, “not just for fans of snowboarding, but for anyone looking for inspiration from an unlikely hero.” Simon Winchester—writing for The NYTimes Book Review—said The Darkest White is, "... probably the most unremittingly exciting book of nonfiction I have come across in years."

Blehm's new book, Haunted by Heroes, is the powerful follow-up to The New York Times bestseller Fearless, honoring the fallen SEAL Team 6 operators whose voices first brought Adam Brown’s story to life. Revealing a shocking untold chapter behind the Extortion 17 tragedy as well as unreported details from the Captain Phillips rescue.

Just days before SEAL Team 6’s daring raid into Pakistan that killed Osama bin Laden in May of 2011, Blehm was approached
to write the story of an unknown Navy SEAL from the top-secret unit: Adam Brown. What began as the biography of an extraordinary life became an unexpected deep dive into a brotherhood of elite warriors. From remote training grounds in Alaska to the coastline of Virginia Beach, these men shared the reality of their profession: maritime hostage rescues, knife fights with pirates, and high-risk missions targeting the world’s most dangerous terrorists . . . then returning home to ordinary life. Seven weeks later, nearly all of the men Blehm had interviewed were called back into action. Without hesitation, they boarded a CH-47 Chinook helicopter—call sign Extortion 17—and rushed into battle. Minutes later, an enemy rocket struck the aircraft.

All thirty-eight aboard were killed.

It was the deadliest single-day loss of the war in Afghanistan, and the greatest loss for Naval Special Warfare since D-Day, World War II. In the wake of that tragedy, Adam’s story—Fearless—was released and went on to touch the hearts of millions of readers around the world. But for Blehm, the story did not end there. The men who had fought so hard to bring Adam home and to preserve his legacy had stories of their own—stories left untold. Unfinished. A raw and gritty memorial wrapped inside a heartrending memoir, Haunted by Heroes returns to those men, honoring their lives, their sacrifice, and the brotherhood that bound them together.

Blehm teaches writing and research at his alma mater, San Diego State University—and continues to research, write, and bring to life sometimes obscure, but always amazing true stories from his basecamp in north San Diego County where he lives with his editor wife. They have three children, two dogs, two cats, and a hermit crab.
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The Only Thing Worth Dying For

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  • The Only Thing Worth Dying For cover art
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    £13.64 or free with trial. Auto-renews at £5.99/month after trial. See eligibility.

  • The Last Season cover art
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    £14.51 or free with trial. Auto-renews at £5.99/month after trial. See eligibility.

  • Legend cover art
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    • Legend

    • A Harrowing Story from the Vietnam War of One Green Beret's Heroic Mission to Rescue a Special Forces Team Caught Behind Enemy Lines
    • By: Eric Blehm
    • Narrated by: Fred Sanders
    • Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
    • Release date: 28-04-15
    • Language: English
    • 55 ratings

    £12.84 or free with trial. Auto-renews at £5.99/month after trial. See eligibility.

  • The Darkest White cover art
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    • The Darkest White

    • A Mountain Legend and the Avalanche That Took Him
    • By: Eric Blehm
    • Narrated by: Dan Bittner
    • Length: 12 hrs and 27 mins
    • Release date: 27-02-24
    • Language: English
    • 11 ratings

    £12.92 or free with trial. Auto-renews at £5.99/month after trial. See eligibility.

  • Furchtlos: Die bewegende Geschichte des Navy SEAL Team Six Chief Adam Brown cover art
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