Johnny Townsend

A climate crisis immigrant who relocated from New Orleans to south Seattle in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Johnny Townsend wrote the first account of the UpStairs Lounge fire, an attack on a French Quarter gay bar that killed 32 people in 1973. He was an associate producer for the documentary Upstairs Inferno, for the deaf gay short "Flirting, with Possibilities," and the upcoming documentary on break dancing, "Breakin' Barriers." His books include "Please Evacuate," "Racism by Proxy," and "Brace for Impact."