In the wake of the fire, I set to writing in an attempt to correct the prevailing mainstream media narrative and to memorialize my dead friends, all of whom were musicians, DJs, photographers, artists, and organizers. I produced a volume of work about the fire itself—but in many senses, everything I've written in the past decade is about Ghost Ship to a greater or lesser degree.
I'm gathering that work together here, plus a handful of essays and articles written by others illustrating the structural causes that enabled this tragedy and its impact on the Bay Area at large. This collection is neither exhaustive nor definitive—many outlets all over the U.S. and beyond wrote extensively about the fire—but the works that follow beside my own were among the most insightful and most powerful I encountered.
Additionally, for the first time, I am publishing in full the letter I sent to author Ayelet Waldman regarding the quickly-canceled Ghost Ship television adaptation she and husband Michael Chabon were planning to produce with CBS. (More on that below.)
As we approach the ten-year anniversary of the fire, I hope readers remember (or discover) the breadth of talent and artistry that we lost that night, and that their memory lives on for decades to come.
The immediate aftermath
Sam Lefebvre
Published two days after the fire, this piece by Bay Area author Sam Lefebvre examines the systemic and socioeconomic factors that led to the tragedy.
Gabe Meline
This essay by KQED Senior Editor Gabe Meline—whom I worked with extensively in the weeks after the fire—captures the dread and horror that anyone who has participated in DIY music scenes felt after the fire, particularly early on when many factual details remained unknown.
Chris Zaldua
About ten days after the fire, I published an essay in Fact Magazine decrying the lens that the national U.S. newsmedia used when writing about the fire.
The obituaries
Chris Zaldua
My obituary for Chelsea Faith Dolan, aka Cherushii, a mainstay of the Bay Area music scene whom I became steadily closer with in the years leading up to the fire.
Chris Zaldua
My obituary for Micah Danemeyer, a musician and organizer who was unrepentantly dedicated to the DIY spirit.
Chris Zaldua
My obituary for Barrett Clark, an extraordinarily talented sound engineer and musician who was a core member of underground music collective Katabatik.
Chris Zaldua
My obituary for Johnny Igaz, aka Nackt, one of my closest friends and collaborators. Johnny and I worked on numerous projects together; the last music he made before he died was released on the record label I co-founded, Left Hand Path, linked below.
An Ant Sunpha
The obituaries I wrote linked above are part of a larger memorial project led by KQED, which includes obituaries for all thirty-six who died in the fire.
Current, an outlet covering nonprofit and public media in the U.S., reported on the work that KQED did, myself included, in the weeks following the fire.
The long wake
Chris Zaldua
On the first anniversary of the fire, I wrote a letter to my dearly departed friend Johnny Igaz—whose obituary I link above—grappling with its consequences.
Matt McDermott
This long-form piece by author Matt McDermott examines the state of the Bay Area electronic music scene after Ghost Ship, and includes interviews with myself and others.
Chris Zaldua
An article I wrote for KQED on the West Coast esoteric music collective Katabatik, who lost several key members in the fire.
Four years after the fire, I wrote an op-ed in response to Bay Area husband-wife writer duo Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman announcing plans to produce a television show for CBS based on the Ghost Ship fire.
If I had to pick a single essay from my entire body of work that I am most proud of, it would probably be this one.
Though this essay was originally published in the San Francisco Chronicle, it is also available to read paywall-free through SF Gate.
Thank you for reading and for remembering.
