Join the Faulkner Morgan Archive and Lexington Public Library as we welcome Robert Fieseler to discuss his book, Tinderbox: The Untold Story of the Upstairs Lounge Fire and the Rise of Gay Liberation.

Before the 2016 Pulse Massacre, the arson committed at the Upstairs Lounge in New Orleans was the largest murder of LGBTQ people in United States history. Amazingly, there were a number of important Kentucky connections to this tragedy.

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Learn more and purchase Tinderbox, winner of Lambda Literary’s Markowitz Award, by clicking here.

Robert W. Fieseler is the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association's "Journalist of the Year" and the acclaimed debut author of Tinderbox: The Untold Story of the Up Stairs Lounge Fire and the Rise of Gay Liberation, winner of the Edgar Award in Best Fact Crime and the Louisiana Literary Award. Queer literary icon Andrew Holleran reviewed the book as "far more than just a history of gay rights," and Michael Cunningham praised it as "essential reading at any time." Fieseler graduated co-valedictorian from the Columbia Journalism School and is a recipient of the Pulitzer Traveling Fellowship. He lives with his husband and dog (a senior Cairn Terrier named Chompers) in New Orleans.