Follow the Journey of Where Yellow Flowers Bloom author Kim Cantin on Social Media 🌼
For those walking through grief, seeking hope, or simply drawn to stories of human resilience—Where Yellow Flowers Bloom continues to open hearts and spark healing conversations.
Follow along on:
👉 Facebook for community updates and news
👉 Instagram for heartfelt quotes and personal reflections
👉 LinkedIn for Kim’s speaking work and grief advocacy
Stay connected with author Kim Cantin as she shares reflections, award news, speaking events, and insights into life after profound loss. Her story is one of survival, strength, and the enduring power of love—and it continues to resonate with readers everywhere.
Join the conversation. Share your own story. Be part of a growing community built on connection, compassion, and courage.
📲 Follow @KimCantin today for the latest on Where Yellow Flowers Bloom.
#WhereYellowFlowersBloom #KimCantin #GriefSupport #Resilience #HopeAfterLoss
Lauren and I recently shared our story on NBC’s powerful new series, Survival Mode—now streaming on Peacock and Hulu (Episode 5: Montecito Mudslides).
This deeply personal episode revisits the devastating 2018 Montecito Mudflows—an unimaginable tragedy that forever changed our lives and the lives of so many others.
We speak openly about the heartbreaking loss of my beloved husband, Dave, and our sweet son, Jack… and about Lauren’s extraordinary survival and rescue after being buried beneath the debris.
Our hope in sharing this journey—through grief, love, and healing—is to offer a sense of strength and hope to others facing their own darkest moments.
Survival Mode highlights stories of people who have lived through extreme events and found resilience on the other side. We’re humbled and honored to be part of it. 💔💪
#SurvivalMode #MontecitoMudslides #GriefAndHealing #Resilience #NBC #Peacock #Hulu #SurvivorStories
On August 4, 2025, Lauren and I will share our story on NBC’s powerful new series, Survival Mode, which begins airing on July 7th. This deeply personal episode looks back at the 2018 Montecito Mudflows—an unimaginable tragedy that changed our lives and those of many others forever.
We speak honestly about the loss of my beloved husband, Dave, and our sweet son, Jack, and Lauren’s incredible survival and rescue after being buried under the debris. We hope that by sharing our journey—one of grief, love, and healing—we can offer strength and hope to others facing their own darkest moments.
Survival Mode is a new NBC series that highlights the stories of people who have endured extreme circumstances and found resilience in the face of them all. We’re honored to be a part of it.
Thank you for continuing to walk beside us. 
Please tune in: Monday, August 4, 2025, on NBC.
In light of the recent devastating floods in Texas, Kim Cantin is sharing her own story of survival, grief, and hope after a natural disaster. In this powerful YouTube interview, Kim opens up about the 2018 Montecito mudslide that claimed 23 lives, including her husband and son, and how she and her daughter Lauren survived the unimaginable.
Kim reflects on how communities come together in times of crisis—just as they did in Montecito and are now in Texas. She also speaks about the long search for her son, guided by love, intuition, and moments of hope, like the yellow flowers that inspired the title of her memoir Where Yellow Flowers Bloom.
Her story is one of resilience and the enduring power of love. Watch the full interview here.
Kim hopes her journey offers comfort and strength to those currently facing hardship, and serves as a reminder that even after tragedy, hope can bloom. 🌼💛
Good Grief podcast host Cheryl Jones sits down with Kim Cantin, author of Where Yellow Flowers Bloom, to explore her journey through the devastating Montecito mudflow of January 9, 2018, which claimed the lives of her husband and son and reshaped her life and that of her daughter.
Kim vividly recounts the chaos and horror of that night—the roaring debris flow, the split-second decisions, and the heartbreak of losing loved ones.
This episode is at once intimate and universal, delivering raw emotional honesty while underscoring the importance of community, intuition, and love. Kim’s experiences reframed grief as a catalyst—not just for survival but for renewed meaning.
In this moving episode, host Dr. Christine Malone interviews Kim Cantin, author of Where Yellow Flowers Bloom, about her devastating experience during the January 2018 Montecito mudslide. Cantin shares the tragic loss of her husband and young son, followed by a long, emotionally charged journey of grief and healing.
Grief, Storytelling & Renewal
Kim shares how storytelling has become a tool for both healing herself and supporting others. Writing Where Yellow Flowers Bloom helped her transform grief into purpose, offering a narrative of hope not only for her daughter but also for anyone wrestling with loss.
This episode interweaves profound personal loss, spiritual intuition, and the power of narrative. Kim’s story is both deeply personal and universally human, illustrating how grief can fuel resilience, meaning, and connection. Listeners are left with a poignant reminder: healing often begins with honoring love, even after loss.




Award season has officially wrapped, and Where Yellow Flowers Bloom has been honored with 8 book awards, including a Best Seller Award! I’m incredibly proud of what this book has achieved, but even more moved by the lives it has touched, the conversations it has sparked, and the shared grief I’ve had the privilege to hold space for.
A heartfelt thank you to my amazing support system and to the publishing and audiobook team at Precocity Press for bringing this book to life with such care and dedication.
You can download your copy and even listen to a sample of the book at https://www.amazon.com/Where-Yellow-Flowers…/dp/B0CZ7K7QGY.
It was a true honor to speak at the Santa Barbara National Charity League Meeting this week…even more timely with the wildfires being so damaging in LA with all that uncertainty and devastation. It is so similar to 7 years ago – almost to the day – that started with a wildfire and ended with a massive mudslide, killing 23.
My main message: when life pivots…adapt.
Life does not go as planned – so for me, the community support made a healing difference and gave me the trauma/grief support that I needed.
What an amazing group of women! It was so meaningful for me as some of the women I was in NCL with came to hear my talk. Forever friends were in that room. Women who I did not know that well before the tragedy and who stepped in to help me in big ways. Forever grateful. It reminds me of how much helping others in their time of crisis helps my healing.
@nationalcharityleagueinc @montecito #wildfires #whereyellowflowersbloom #speaker #hope #adapt #community #healing
If you live in the Tucson area or know someone who does, please share the IANDS (International Association For Near-Death Studies) Conference with anyone suffering a loss or near-death experience. We can come together as a community to heal, and I look forward to sharing that wisdom.
You can download your copy and even listen to a sample of the book at https://www.amazon.com/Where-Yellow-Flowers…/dp/B0CZ7K7QGY.
Personally, reading this book aloud added yet another layer of healing I received during my publishing adventure. I hope others can listen to this experience and be inspired by how life, like yellow flowers, can bloom again after a traumatic event or other challenging life experiences.
Please help me share this news!
This book left me with the uplifting message that love never dies. – Amazon Reviewer
Happy #Booktober! Where The Yellow Flowers Bloom was featured this month on Hanging Off The Wire.
My Palos Verdes community means so much to me! It is an honor to have “Where Yellow Flowers Bloom” featured in PV magazine. See pages 16 & 19!
“A Widow’s Heart” podcast with Pam Lundell
What does it mean to lose your spouse? How are your children affected? What does it look like for you to make a living as a single parent? How do you cope with deep loneliness? Where is God in the midst of this sorrow? Join Pam Lundell as she talks through her journey as a widow and how it has shaped who she is today. In her podcast “A Widow’s Heart”, Pam talks with widows, widowers, and family members who have walked through these hard realities together. Follow along to hear stories of healing, God’s work through these losses, and comfort from those who have experienced the loss of their loved ones.
Heart Soul Wisdom Podcast with host Moira Sutton:
A True Story of Hope through Unimaginable Loss Part Two
In this show, we talk about:
. Personal Development
. Self Growth
. Spirituality & Consciousness
. Relationships
. Health & Well Being
Heart Soul Wisdom is a journey of self-discovery and transformation. Moira Sutton and her amazing guests share real-life stories, tools and strategies, to inspire and empower YOU to create and live your best life! Come along on the journey and finally blast through any fears, obstacles and challenges that have held you back in the past, so you can live your life with the joy, passion and happiness, that you desire with Create the Life you Love, Empowerment Life Coach, Moira Sutton.
In my book, I write about the sweet Montecito 4th of July parade where Dave and Jack walked in the parade and Lauren and I would watch. On July 4th, 2023, I was asked to ride in the parade on the vintage 1937 fire truck! What a magical surprise to see they had put this sign on the front of the truck which really touched me… especially after over five years. Thank You Montecito. What a fantastic community. Compassion heals.
The Douglas Coleman Show with host Douglas Coleman: After the devastating mudslides of January 2018 and surviving the experience, she felt compelled to write her first book, Where Yellow Flowers Bloom, with the hope that it will help and inspire others. She is still an active member of the Santa Barbara community. When she isn’t spending time with her daughter, friends, or family, she is with her two pups.
The Douglas Coleman Show is a syndicated talk and music show that features fascinating and sometimes famous guests from all walks of life. From the entertainment industry including musicians, actors, filmmakers and authors to political and social commentators. We cover it all. The topics can range from light and fluffy to sober and serious. The Douglas Coleman show, sometimes chat, sometimes music, always entertaining.
The Grief and Happiness Show Emily Thiroux Threatt: Finding Hope Through Unimaginable Loss with Kim Cantin
In today’s episode, Kim talks about her terrifying story and highlights how finding hope through her unimaginable loss saved her and gave her and her daughter the strength to keep going. We also talk about community, and more specifically, Montecito’s community, how they showed up to help and weren’t mere “grief tourists.”
Additionally, Kim talks about her late husband Dave’s contribution to Montecito’s community, the beautiful homage Montecito’s kids paid him later, the celebrities like Ellen DeGeneres that offered their platforms to raise awareness and help, and so much more.
Listen to episode 138 and learn about Kim’s fascinating fortitude, community, healing, and hope story.
In This Episode, You Will Learn:
- The story that inspired “”Where Yellow Flowers Bloom”” (2:10)
- About Dave’s massive contribution to Montecito’s community (9:00)
- Kim talks about her daughter Lauren, “”the miracle mud princess”” (13:20)
- Kim talks about the support she received from celebrities (16:00)
- The importance of community and how they help Kim (20:20)
- Kim’s book and its message about natural disasters (26:10)
I was interviewed on the Insight Into Healing show with Host Alexa Servodidio.
This heartfelt memoir recounts a grieving mother and wife Kim Cantin’s healing journey in the midst of tragedy that gives rise to unexpected wisdom, affirming love that transcends beyond life. Natural disaster stoking tragic headlines is a backdrop of the profound retelling of the survival of Cantin and her daughter and the search for her missing son in the wake of the loss of her husband and home.”
I was interviewed on KATU Portland Channel 2’s Afternoon Live show hosted by Kara Mack. Click on the image to watch the interview.
Kara Mack is the host of KATU’s “Afternoon Live” airing every day at 2 p.m. A versatile broadcaster, she brings her past experiences of feature, entertainment and sports reporting to a lifestyle show that covers it all.
Where Yellow Flowers Bloom hops the pond!
Read my first European mention here.
As Cantin affirms, “Now, I am aware of love coming to and through me more than ever before. I’m more present in the moment. Losing my son and husband, and meeting so many people who supported Lauren and me through our loss and during our search, opened me up to seeing and feeling more deeply.”
Cantin’s powerful memoir, ‘Where Yellow Flowers Bloom’, is a heartfelt testament of a mother’s love and a wife’s devotion in the midst of sudden loss and trauma, with an enlightened perspective on mortality. Through her patience, perseverance and willingness to be open to help and to heal, she confirms love’s ability to connect and transcend beyond life.
My interview on the Messages of Hope podcast with host Suzanne Giesemann was LIVE Thursday, May 11th. Join in on Facebook and YouTube.
Suzanne Giesemann is a spiritual teacher, author, and medium recognized on the Watkins’ 2022 list of the 100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People. A former Navy Commander and aide to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, she is a member of the visionary Evolutionary Leaders Circle. Suzanne shares The Awakened Way™, a path to living a consciously connected and divinely guided life, and created the BLESS ME© method of connecting to Higher Consciousness and the SIP of the Divine© meditation. Her gift of multidimensional communication has been verified by noted afterlife researchers. Her messages bring not only hope, but healing and l
Joey Madia, New Mystics Reviews
Read the entire beautiful review here.
In a world going ever more awry, books such as ‘Where Yellow Flowers Bloom’—the title’s meaning waits for you to find it—provide a candle in the darkness, shelter from the wind, and a loving hand on the center of your back when you’re feeling alone. Tragedy and loss give us our humanity, but community gives our humanity its fullest meaning, purpose, and expression.
Tune in to Kim Cantin’s interview with Dr. Jo Anne White of Power Your Life on May 17 at 9am PST on Blog Talk Radio.
“Power Your Life with Dr. Jo Anne White” brings you exciting, up-to-date information and strategies with savvy guests and experts to help you consciously create more success, health and wellness in every area of your life, work and relationships.
The Kim Pagano Show interview May 6, 2023.
Kim educates moms, dads, children, and the entire ommunity in useful daily knowledge. She talks about how to cope and meet everyday demands with a positive, yet realistic point of view in today’s world.
Fun afternoon at Tecolote Book Shop in Montecito, on April 29th, with a little book signing. Even some delta gamma alum sorority sisters joined us! Actress, filmmaker, and author Feuding Fan Dancers and Goddess Incarnate, and Behind the Burly Q drove up in her red 1954 Cadillac! The sacred search team helper and author Catherine Weissenberg, who co-wrote “Beyond Ever After” with Jocelyn Montanaro was there. Fun seeing folks and hearing why they were interested in reading the book. Many were in town that fateful night.
Untethered: Healing the Pain from a Sudden Death
Episode 26 : Two Lives Lost After the Montecito Mudslides: An Interview With Kim Cantin – Part 2
From Grief to Growth by Jennifer Levin, April 26, 2023
This is the second part of my interview with Dr. Jennifer Levin, host of the Untethered Podcast, and we discuss my book “Where Yellow Flowers Bloom: A True Story of Hope Through Unimaginable Loss” which was released Friday, April 9th 2023.
Key points:
- Kim helps us normalize the long-term experience of grief. We know that the pain and sadness associated with the sudden and unexpected death of loved ones never goes away. She is now able to honor her grief feelings whenever these emotions surface and she allows herself to experience the feelings and process her emotions until they soften.
- Sudden and unexpected death changes us at the very core. Kim shares that grief increased her ability to be empathetic and vulnerable with others.
- Kim recognizes that she can now “trust the process more”. To move towards healing Kim describes how she opened herself to new experiences throughout her grief process whether it was new types of therapy, new ways to find her son Jack, or advice from people with different skills including spiritual advisors and intuitive.
KWMR Community Radio interviews author Kim Cantin and discusses her new book, “Where Yellow Flowers Bloom”. April 24, 2023.
Pieces of Peace with host Susan Santiago gives a voice to individuals who, in some way and to some degree, are working toward a better world. Guests can be local, national, or international. Their interests include a plethora of topics such as art, NGOs, spirituality, education, music, and much, much more. It’s always a beautiful thing.
Kim Cantin Finds New Life with Book Sharing Her Loss in Deadly 2018 Montecito Disaster by Joshua Molina, Noozhawk Staff Writer April 23, 2023
By telling her family’s story, debris flow survivor hopes ‘Where Yellow Flowers Bloom’ helps others deal with heartbreak and tragedy.
TMYS : Tell Me Your Story interviews author Kim Cantin and discusses her new book, “Where Yellow Flowers Bloom”. April 18, 2023.
Richard Dugan, host of ‘Tell Me Your Story”, brings as many different points of view, from around the circle, into your view, to assist you in expanding your life and living. To assist in the positive evolution of mankind and bringing about a greater awareness of self and others in order to create the kind of world YOU want. A world in which we all can search for, find and fulfill our ‘first best destiny’.
Insight With Vicki Gonzalez : Montecito Mudslide Survivor Writes A Memoir, April 17, 2023
In the early morning hours of January 8, 2018 mudslides in the town of Montecito in Santa Barbara County killed 23 people. The mudslides were due to an atmospheric river in the burn scar of the Thomas Fire, which happened one month prior, and at the time was the largest wildfire in state history.
Kim Cantin and her daughter Lauren were gravely injured, but were rescued from the debris and survived. However her husband Dave, son Jack and family dog Chester perished. Her husband’s remains were found more than a mile from their home, and it would take more than three years to find her son’s remains. Kim has written a memoir to help others find healing through tremendous grief and loss. She joins Insight to discuss her debut book, Where Yellow Flowers Bloom: A True Story of Hope Through Unimaginable Loss.
Hope in Bloom by Caleb Beeghly, Santa Barbara News-Press, April 14, 2023
Kim Cantin’s new book details her journey from grief to peace after the 2018 Montecito mudslides.
Untethered: Healing the Pain from a Sudden Death
Episode 25 : Two Lives Lost After the Montecito Mudslides: An Interview With Kim Cantin – Part 1
From Grief to Growth by Jennifer Levine, April 12, 2023
Today’s podcast interview is the first of a two-part interview with Kim Cantin, author of the brand-new book, Where Yellow Flowers Bloom: A True Story of Hope Through Unimaginable Loss. Kim’s book describes the tragic story of what happened to her family during the mudslides in Montecito, CA in 2018 after the Thomas Fires.
Key points:
- Kim talks about how she trusted the process and let people in to help her along the way. Something that many people struggling with grief often have a hard time doing.
- Kim gave of herself endlessly, yet she could not do it all. She found it impossible to devote all of her time to search for her son, to focus 100% on the needs of her daughter, to spend every moment grieving her husband and to focus on herself.
- Kim found people and the connection to others to be a healing experience and perhaps the most powerful antidote to living with uncertainty.
Montecito True Story: How to Find Hope After Unimaginable Loss hosted by Dr. Carole Lieberman, Dr. Carole’s Couch, April 11, 2023
Montecito, California is in the news these days, thanks to Harry and Meghan. But, before they came to live here, there were bigger true stories. Today’s guest, Kim Cantin, is the author of Where Yellow Flowers Bloom: A True Story of Hope Through Unimaginable Loss. It’s a heartfelt memoir that recounts her healing journey in the midst of tragedy that gives rise to unexpected wisdom, and affirming love that transcends beyond life. A natural disaster stoking tragic headlines Is the backdrop of the profound retelling of the survival of Ms. Cantin and her daughter and the search for her missing son in the wake of the loss of her husband and home. In the early hours of January 9, 2018 heavy rainfall combined with deforestation from recent wildfires caused a series of mudflows northwest of Montecito, California.
The incident was responsible for 23 deaths and cost $177 million in property damage. News of the mudslide that ravaged the unsuspecting community made national headlines. Among those headlines was the tragic story of the Cantin family. Before the devastating slide reached their home, Kim and Dave Cantin, along with their children, Jack and Lauren, tried to escape in the middle of the night with their beloved dog. Separated during the impact, their fates were now out of their control. After waking up half-buried in a pile of mud, boulders and debris that carried her away from where her home once stood, Kim Cantin was all alone, unaware if any of her family had survived…. To find out the rest of the story, tune in.
Kim Cantin honors Montecito community with passion project, “Where Yellow Flowers Bloom” By Beth Farnsworth, KEYT News, April 6, 2023
MONTECITO, Calif. – ‘A true story of hope through unimaginable loss.’ It is a key message behind Kim Cantin’s powerful memoir, “Where Yellow Flowers Bloom,” newly available in local bookstores and through Amazon. The 292 page book is dedicated to Cantin’s late husband, Dave, their son, Jack, and daughter, Lauren. As most people are aware, Dave and Jack perished in the 2018 Montectio mudflow. Kim and Lauren survived, injured and traumatized.
Past Media

Jack Cantin: Remains of teenager who vanished in 2018 Montecito mudslide found, mother says
Montecito mudslide survivor Kim Cantin reflects on two year anniversary
“Raising our light” remembrance event marks 2 years since Montecito mudslide
Two years after the deadly Montecito mudslide: “There’s no end date to the healing process”
Raising Our Light event commemorates three-year anniversary of Montecito mudslide disaster
Remains of Jack Cantin, teen killed in Montecito debris flow, located more than 3 years later
A look back at the top stories of 2021 throughout our area
Raising Our Light event commemorates four-year anniversary of Montecito mudslide disaster
Mudslide victim’s final words to partner: ‘don’t let go’
Stories of how mudslide victims died, survived emerge
Remains of Montecito teen missing since 2018 mudslide found, mother confirms

Bucket brigade continues its search one year after Montecito mudslide
Hundreds attend remembrance event to mark one year after Montecito mudslide
Montecito mudslide survivor honors brother and father with performance at Dodger Stadium
UCSB students join search efforts for missing mudslide victims in Montecito
Community remembers Montecito debris flow victims on three year anniversary
Remains of Montecito teen missing since 2018 mudslide found, mother confirms
UCSB anthropology students helped in search for Montecito teen’s remains
Scientist “over 90% certain” sheriffs found remains of missing teen in CA mudslide
Deadly rains in Southern California send rivers of mud into homes, trigger fire, flooding
Search for victims of California mudslides widens as death toll grows
The year in pictures – NBC News
Presumed remains of teen found 3 years after deadly California mudslide

Moments of terror in Thomas fire zone as powerful rains send the earth moving
Montecito neighborhood ripped by mudslides was not under mandatory evacuation order
Among mudslide victims were children and retirees, long time residents and immigrants
Mud, darkness and destruction turned Montecito into a death trap
Who they were: The victims of the Montecito mudslides
Search teams find 21st victim of Montecito mudslide
After the Montecito mudslides, a search for belongings and two children
Behind the story: Winning the trust of a traumatized family
She was buried in a mudslide that killed her father and brother. Singing has been her salvation
Remains of 17-year-old missing in 2018 Montecito mudslide have been found, mother says
Katy Perry surprises survivors and first responders of deadly Montecito mudslides

Dave Cantin of Montecito, 1968-2018
One805 Kick Ash Bash’ benefits fire, flood survivors and first responders
Jack Cantin of Montecito, 2000-2018
Bill Macfadyen: Montecito keeps a weather eye out, but this time the storm blinks
Montecito flood victim Jack Cantin honored at packed mission memorial service
A year ago, Montecito debris flows brought ‘unfathomable destruction’ to coastal community
An evening to experience ShelterBox’ puts relief shelters, mission on display
Bill Macfadyen: Tsunami Scenario Gets Santa Barbara County’s Attention
Bill Macfadyen: Relief and Release Accompany Discovery of Jack Cantin’s Remains
Remains of 17-Year-Old Jack Cantin Recovered 3½ Years After Deadly Montecito Debris Flows
From Our Inbox: Letters to the Editor for the Week Ending July 23, 2021
Mother of Jack Cantin drops lawsuit over Santa Barbara County’s possession of son’s remains

Majority of Montecito Mudslide victims were not under mandatory evacuation orders
Kick Ash Bash celebrates first responders
Montecito firefighters’ charitable foundation honors community heroes
Remembering David and Jack Cantin
News Briefs (Print)
Mother of Debris Flow Victim Sues Santa Barbara Sheriff over Son’s Remains
Found but Still Lost? (Print)
Cantin drops lawsuit against sheriff’s office over debris flow remains
Montecito mudslides: Three years later
Traffic, Crime and Fire Blotter
Researchers share details on discovery of Jack Cantin’s remains
Finding closure after debris flow