FEATURED AUTHOR
BRUCE D. CLAYTON

Survivor, scientist, writer, teacher. Author of more than a dozen books on survival and self-defense. Black belt in the fifth degree.

"You can't be prepared for the unthinkable without thinking about it in the first place."

Twenty-five years ago I started writing a book called Life After Doomsday, which explained how to survive a nuclear war. It was my weekend hobby while I finished my doctorate in ecology. Years of research went into the book, and it was well received by its intended audience. In certain circles the book became known as "the bible of survivalism." It is still in print (and endorsed on hundreds of survival Web sites) two decades later.

My interest in emergency preparedness eventually led me into firefighting and then to the position of assistant director of the Office of Emergency Services for my rural county. In that position I attended numerous training classes about nuclear war, hazardous materials, and other threats to the community, including terrorism.

My duties as an emergency response planner required me to explore the world of terrorists and assess their potential for hurting my community. This research made me sensitive to subsequent news items as the terror situation developed over the next few years.

America has been under steady attack by terrorists for two decades, but for the most part we have ignored these incidents. The same group that crashed the planes into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the Pennsylvania countryside on September 11, 2001, declared a holy war on the United States in 1996 and has launched regular attacks on Americans ever since. In the meantime, we have had domestic terrorists attacking from the rear, in our very heartland. I have monitored these events with growing concern.

When I saw the Twin Towers collapse, I was dumbfounded and furious, just like you. The secret war was suddenly out in the open, and people needed to know how to deal with it. The news wires and talk shows buzzed with useless advice from the media's instant experts. Couldn't anybody do better than that?

To defend your family from terrorist attack, you need to draw on many different kinds of expertise. You need to understand the history of terrorists and their methods. You need to understand important aspects of chemistry, microbiology, genetics, physiology, and anatomy. You need expert advice about hazardous materials, radiological defense, and nuclear weapons effects. In terms of practical experience, it helps to have worn the self-contained breathing apparatus and knelt on the bloody pavement as a first responder. You need to know what emergency management and disaster response look like from the inside. You might find it comforting to know a thing or two about personal defense. To make your plans, you need the perspective that 25 years of survival preparations can give you.

I realized that most people do not have this breadth of expertise, but I do. So I decided it was time for me to write another book.

Life After Terrorism isn't for me. My survival preparations were made long ago. I hope you won't need the information contained in it either. However, when your children's lives are at stake, you can't afford to be ignorant, and you can't afford to make naïve mistakes. When your family is involved, survival stops being a game and takes on a grim seriousness. You need some advice from a friend who has been there.

Knowledge is power. Knowledge and experience trump gadgets and theory every time. Life After Terrorism will teach you, amuse you, and make you think. It will, also, probably make you mad. I hope you won't be quite the same person when you finish reading it.

Bruce D. Clayton, Scientist

Bruce D. Clayton received his doctorate in ecology from the University of Montana in 1978 , after getting his bachelor's degree in zoology and botany from UCLA in 1972. His scientific specialties were forest fire ecology and biological control.

A California state-certified instructor of radiological defense techniques and fallout shelter management, Clayton has been trained in disaster shelter management and damage assessment by the American Red Cross. He was one of the founding members of Doctors for Disaster Preparedness (DDP).

In October 1982, Clayton was invited to speak at the yearly convention of the U.S. Civil Defense Council (USCDC). Subsequently, the USCDC gave him the Eugene Wigner Award for his work in educating the American public about civil preparedness.

In May 1984, Clayton received a citation from California governor George Deukmajian for "Exceptional Achievement in the Field of Emergency Preparedness." The citation reads, in part, "Clayton has represented the emergency management community with distinction in public forums, where his calm, factual, scientific approach has been highly effective in informing the public about the importance of disaster preparedness."

He has been interviewed by several national television programs, including The CBS Evening News, The Tomorrow Show, Today, and 60 Minutes, and has appeared on many local radio programs in the United States, Great Britain, Canada, and Australia.

Bruce D. Clayton, Author

Bruce D. Clayton is perhaps best known as the author of Life After Doomsday. Published in 1980, Life After Doomsday is still widely regarded as the best book on surviving nuclear war and other major disasters--from tornados to theocracies--ever printed. Life After Doomsday changed the way this nation viewed nuclear survival: the U.S. government used Clayton's research from the book to revise some of its official policies on civil defense. Clayton was among the first scientists to teach that the effects of nuclear war were not only survivable but were also highly predictable.

Clayton also wrote Fallout Survival and Thinking About Survival, coauthored Survival Books and Urban Alert, and published The Survivalist Directory. He is a former editor of INFO-RAY, the newsletter of the California Radiological Defense Officers' Association, and was a contributing editor to Survive magazine, Survival Guide magazine, and the Survival Tomorrow newsletter.

Life After Terrorism is Clayton's first book for Paladin in more than 20 years. In it, he presents logical and viable methods for realistically assessing the threat of terrorism today and coming up with a plan for your family to avoid--or survive--those threats.

Bruce D. Clayton, Martial Artist

As a boy, Bruce D. Clayton was profoundly influenced by the story of Kitty Genovese, murdered in New York in 1964. This 28-year-old woman was stabbed repeatedly in full view of 38 neighbors, but no one tried to help her. Nobody wanted to become involved. Clayton made a decision to be the kind of person who would get involved, and this eventually led to a career in the martial arts.

Clayton spent two years studying with Briggs Hunt, the famous Olympic wrestling coach, while an undergraduate at UCLA. He took Hunt's down-and-dirty self-defense class a total of six times, breaking his arm only once. Clayton received personal instruction from Hunt while ghost-writing a self-defense text for the course. During this period Clayton was also introduced to Kodokan judo, breaking his nose only once.
After college, Clayton spent a year studying traditional Shotokan karate in Los Angeles and conceived a life-long attachment to this style. These studies were interrupted by graduate school in Missoula, Montana, where Clayton spent three years with the Big Sky Taekwando organization, breaking his hand only once. During this period, Clayton won first-place trophies in both kata and kumite in the 7th Annual Big Sky Championships.

After receiving his Ph.D. in ecology, Clayton left tae kwon do and eventually returned to traditional karate. He is currently a Godan (fifth-degree black belt) in Shotokan karate under Vincent Cruz (8th degree), and has been awarded the title of shihan, denoting special achievement as an instructor. There have been no further broken bones as of this writing.

Clayton has also continued to develop his self-defense course. The course bypasses traditional self-defense instruction and teaches students how to use 12 families of weapons.

For the record, Clayton has never been a member of any political party, any religious organization, or any group that is based on animosity or intolerance.

Q & A

Paladin: What are the two most important "rules to live by" when facing terrorism?
Clayton: 1) Don't panic. 2) Don't panic. The fact is that 99.9% of America will never see an Arab terrorist face-to-face. They have a lot of ambition but little ability to carry out their plans. Stop and take a serious look at the risk you actually run, and then takes steps to reduce it. If you are caught in an attack, move quietly and calmly to the exits and walk away. If you are caught and can't walk away, then quietly and calmly kill as many of the bastards as you can. It's your duty to the rest of us.

Paladin: Of all of the things one can do to prepare for a terrorist attack, what do you consider the biggest priorities?
Clayton: It would be good advice to avoid camping trips on the West Bank. At home, it's not a good idea to work in one of the world's tallest buildings. In fact, we don't want to work or live near any building that shows up on tourist postcards. Seriously, Arab terrorists in the United States are all tourists. If you avoid tourist attractions, you'll avoid most of the targets the terrorists think are sexy. A well-coordinated terrorist attack, which is almost an oxymoron even after September 11, could scare us into shutting down interstate transport (trucking) and municipal water for a few days. Better have some food and water stored.

Paladin: If you were to take a guess on what type of terrorist attack Americans are most likely to face next, what would it be?
Clayton: The anthrax attack looks like it was the work of a disaffected American, not an Arab terrorist. Still, the Arabs watched it and saw how much trouble a tablespoon of powder and a half dozen letters caused. Iraq and Iran have tons of anthrax. Al Qaida has tons of money. They must be thinking about a copycat anthrax attack. Of course, they'll mail their letters the day after the U.S. Postal Service raises first-class rates again, and all the letters will be returned to sender.

Paladin: How have you personally prepared for that eventuality?
Clayton: I really doubt that I'll get a letter, but I do have one line of defense. My mail goes to a post office box. If I get an envelope that dusts the box with white powder, I'm not going to touch it. I'll just close the little door and call for help.

Paladin: How do you respond to people who still think it's "paranoid" to think about trying to protect yourself from nuclear warfare or terrorism?
Clayton: I'm not worried about nuclear war and terrorism because I'm trained and equipped to deal with them. You're not worried about nuclear war and terrorism because . . . what? Because you have your eyes shut, your hands over your ears, and your head between your knees? What are you doing, praying to Mecca?

Paladin: Has September 11 brought more people over to your way of thinking -- that disaster is more than possible and that preparations should be made? What are the indications of this?
Clayton: The peak of the survival movement occurred during the Carter years, when Americans were held hostage in Iran and the Savings and Loan companies teetered on the brink of collapse. We haven't returned to that level of concern yet, but if Al Qaida keeps up the pressure we may. All they have to do is make one more attack that hurts like September 11 did.

Paladin: In general, do you think more Americans are preparing to survive some sort of disaster now than was the case during the Cold War?
Clayton: Americans are always preparing for "some sort" of disaster, depending on where they live and what's in the news. People aren't sure how to respond to the terror threat. It's too complicated. There are too many threatening scenarios. That's why I wrote Life After Terrorism, to help people sort out which parts are important and which are fantasy.

Any questions? If so, please feel free to e-mail Dr. Clayton.

LIFE AFTER TERRORISM
What You Need to Know to Survive in Today's World

LIFE AFTER DOOMSDAY