Historic preservationists and some Seattle-ites knew about the remarkable Panama Hotel generally and Jan Johnson’s efforts specifically, by the late 1980s. But the world was introduced to the story of the Panama Hotel through the 2009 New York Times Bestseller Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet.

Author Jamie Ford’s fictional World War II era love story is set in Seattle’s International District in the second half of the 20th century and features the owner of the Panama Hotel (based on our friend Jan Johnson). The novel’s centerpiece is the true story of Japantown residents storing their trunks and suitcases in the basement of the hotel when Executive Order 9066 was issued by President Roosevelt on February 19, 1942. The novel’s heroine – Keiko Okabe – and her family left their belongings behind when they were evacuated and imprisoned in Hunt, Idaho at the Minidoka Relocation Center.

Readers the world over (the novel has been translated in 30 languages, with over a million copies sold worldwide) were drawn in by the story and are curious about Seattle’s Chinatown, Japantown and, most of all, the hotel on the corner of 6th and Main – the Panama Hotel.

Recently, the National Trust’s Director of Digital Content, Julia Rocchi, sat down with the author to discuss the hotel and the large impact it has had on his personal and professional life. Read the full interview.