Johnson, Curt 1928-2008 (Curtis Lee Johnson, Lee Wallek, Walter Whiz)

OBITUARY NOTICE—

See index for CA sketch: Born May 26, 1928, in Minneapolis, MN; died of lung cancer, June 9, 2008, in Highland Park, IL. Publisher, editor, fiction writer, and nonfiction author. Johnson was an author in his own right, but he is remembered as the publisher and editor of the little literary journal december, which opened the door for aspiring writers for decades. Some of his discoveries went on to stellar careers, not least among them authors Raymond Carver and Joyce Carol Oates. Johnson edited the magazine with care and integrity for nearly fifty years, supporting himself and his family with successive short periods of editorial work for other Chicago-area publishers, such as magazine publisher Davis Publications, textbook publishers Scott, Foresman and Company and Aldine Publishing Company, and encyclopedia publishers. He became the vice president of Saint Clair Press in 1973. Johnson began his career with hopes of literary success, publishing the novel Hobbledehoy's Hero in 1959. He wrote other books, along with hundreds of short stories, articles, columns, and book reviews, but the best-seller lists eluded him. Some critics and colleagues have suggested that Johnson's artistry may have been overshadowed by his expressions of social conscience, which reportedly ran from passionate to abrasive. An attempt by Norbert Blei to remedy the oversight resulted in the anthology of fiction and articles, Salud: Selected Writings by Curt Johnson (2007), which was greeted with pleasure by Johnson's loyal fans. Johnson's other fiction includes the novel Song for Three Voices (1984). In later years he turned to nonfiction, as the author of 500 Years of Obscene—and Counting (1997) and the coauthor of The Wicked City: Chicago from Kenna to Capone (1998) and 26 Martyrs for These Latter Perilous Days (2004). Some of Johnson's writings appeared under the pseudonyms Lee Wallek or Walter Whiz.

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

BOOKS

Blei, Norbert, Salud: Selected Writings by Curt Johnson, Cross+Roads Press (Ellison Bay, WI), 2007.

Johnson, Curt, Little by Little, or, How I Won the War: A Memoir of Minneapolis during the Great Depression, December Press (Highland Park, IL), 2004.

PERIODICALS

Chicago Tribune, June 17, 2008, sec. 2, p. 5.