The Lost and the Found: A True Story of Homelessness, Found Family, and Second Chances

In the tradition of Stephanie Land and Matthew Desmond, a powerful and deeply reported narrative of homelessness, despair, and hope.

Kevin Fagan’s The Lost and the Found, set in San Francisco—one of the wealthiest cities in America—takes an empathic, character-driven approach to exploring the human side of what’s behind the homelessness epidemic.

An award-winning journalist and Pulitzer Prize nominee who has covered homelessness for decades and spent extensive time on the streets for his reporting, Fagan experienced it himself as a young man and brings a deep understanding to the crisis. He introduces us to Rita and Tyson, telling the deeply moving story of two unhoused people rescued by their families with the help of Fagan’s reporting, and their struggle to pull themselves out of homelessness and addiction, ending with both enormous tragedy and triumph.

But The Lost and the Found is not just a story of individuals experiencing homelessness, it is also a compelling look at the link between homelessness and addiction, and an incisive commentary on housing and equality. Fagan shines a sharp light on this national calamity, and in sharing Rita and Tyson’s stories, The Lost and the Found has the potential to change the way we see and help the homeless.

About the Author

Kevin Fagan is a longtime, award-winning reporter at the San Francisco Chronicle. He has been nominated several times for the Pulitzer Prize, and won the James Aronson Award for Social Justice in Journalism and the John S. Knight Journalism Fellowship at Stanford University. During his career, he has covered homelessness, the 9/11 terror attacks, serial killers, California’s wildfires, and much more. Follow him on X @KevinChron.