David Johnson '78

---

David Johnson '78 has published his memoir, "When All Else Fails, BLAME YOUR MOTHER!"

"My years at UCLA in the 1970s were formative in ways I’m only now able to fully articulate," said Johnson. "The memoir explores identity, resilience and a chapter of LGBTQ+ student experience that was largely invisible at the time. It reflects on fraternity culture, belonging and the personal journey of navigating silence during an era when many students could not safely speak their truth."

From the press release:

David Johnson’s electrifying new memoir sets the stage for an extraordinary journey of truth, reconciliation, and mystical discovery. Marking the 50th anniversary of his personal revelation at Disneyland’s Main Street Flagpole on Father’s Day 1975, this book weaves together themes of identity, secrecy, and spiritual synchronicity in ways never explored before.

With a backdrop of evangelical homophobia, familial revelation, and historical forces, Johnson — son of beloved author Barbara Johnson — unearths the enigmatic coincidences linking Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, Disneyland, Hawaii, and the occult into a narrative unlike any other. Johnson’s narrative emerges from what he describes as his “call to wholeness” — a fifty-year journey toward understanding that could no longer be ignored.

Johnson earned his bachelor's degree in political science.