Don L. Johnson

Who was Don L. Johnson?

Don L. Johnson was among Wisconsin's best known outdoor writers. His career included widely acclaimed nature writing, groundbreaking investigative reporting on environmental issues, and traditional outdoor writing about hunting, fishing, and related pursuits.

In 2000, Wisconsin Outdoor Journal named Johnson as among "The Century Honor Roll" of 20 individuals who had the greatest influence on conservation, hunting, and fishing in Wisconsin during the 20th century.

Johnson died on January 20, 2006, after a struggle with both Parkinson's disease and cancer. A feature article published in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel the next day summarized Johnson's career as follows: "During an award-winning newspaper career that spanned more than 30 years, Johnson boated down the Amazon, canoed through the Badlands of North Dakota and dog sledded across the Minnesota wilderness. He heard howler monkeys sing in Ecuador, watched baboons march single file in Kenya and went bonefishing in Cuba. In prose that revealed his deep love of nature, Johnson took thousands of Wisconsin readers with him on these adventures and opened their eyes to environmental threats posed by DDT and mercury."