Name Gerald Johnson Role Journalist | Education Wake Forest University | |
Died March 22, 1980, Towson, Maryland, United States Awards John Newbery Medal, Peabody Award People also search for Carl Dreher, Carl Landauer, David Cushman Coyle, Fred Hobson, John Newbery Books The Imperial Republic, The Feynman Integral a, America‑watching, South‑watching, The lunatic fringe | ||
Gerald White Johnson (1890 – March 22, 1980) was a journalist, editor, essayist, historian, biographer, and novelist. Over his nearly 75-year career he was known for being "one of the most eloquent spokespersons for America's adversary culture". He wrote mystery novels under the pen name of Charles North.
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Johnson was born in Riverton, North Carolina, the son of an editor of a Baptist magazine. He graduated from Wake Forest College in 1910.
During World War I he was a member of the American Expeditionary Force. He was the first professor of journalism at the University of North Carolina. While there he published the first of many books, The Story of Man's Work, a defense of liberal capitalism. He opposed the anti-evolution movement during the "Monkey Trial" era.
Johnson worked for The Evening Sun of Baltimore from 1926 to 1943, when he retired to write for magazines and to concentrate on writing books.
In 1949 he served as the honorary chairman of a committee that advocated against loyalty oaths and in 1950 published an article in Harper's called "Why Communists are Valuable."
He wrote many works on topics in American history, beginning with Andrew Jackson: An Epic in Homespun (1927).
He was a friend and colleague of H. L. Mencken.
He married Kathryn Hayward and they had two daughters. He died in Baltimore on March 22, 1980.
Works
Accolades
In 1952 Johnson received the Alfred I. duPont Award.