William Joseph Johnston (novelist)
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William Joseph Johnston (January 11, 1924 – October 15, 2010) was an American novelist, primarily known for authoring
tie-in A tie-in work is a work of fiction or other product based on a media property such as a film, video game, television series, board game, web site, role-playing game or literary property. Tie-ins are authorized by the owners of the original prope ...
novels, although he also wrote non-fiction books and novels unrelated to specific motion pictures or television series.


Biography

Johnston was born on January 11, 1924, in
Lincoln, Illinois Lincoln is a city in Logan County, Illinois, United States. First settled in the 1830s, it is the only town in the United States that was named for Abraham Lincoln before he became president; he practiced law there from 1847 to 1859. Lincoln is h ...
. He was the son of John and Lucille (Shoup) Johnston, and he attended high school in Springfield, Illinois. During the
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, William Johnston served in the
Pacific Theater The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
as a radio operator and gunner in the
U.S. Navy Air Corps A naval aviator is a commissioned officer or warrant officer qualified as a crewed aircraft pilot in the United States Navy or United States Marine Corps. United States Coast Guard crewed aircraft pilots are officially designated as "Coast Guard ...
(1942–1945). On October 24, 1953, Johnston married Anne Korba, an executive secretary. The couple had five children:
Phillip Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...
Susan, Peter, Thomas, and Kelly. Johnston and his family resided in Massapequa, New York.


Writing career

After World War II, Johnston worked as a disc jockey at radio station WTAX in
Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat and largest city of Sangamon County. The city's population was 114,394 at the 2020 census, which makes it the state's seventh most-populous city, the second largest o ...
. From 1947-1950, Johnston worked as a news reporter for
WJOL WJOL (1340 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a news talk/sports format. Licensed to Joliet, Illinois, United States, the station is currently owned by Alpha Media, through licensee Alpha Media Licensee LLC. WJOL carries a variety of local progr ...
. He worked as a press agent for
Tex McCrary John Reagan "Tex" McCrary Jr. (October 13, 1910 – July 29, 2003) was an American journalist and public relations specialist who popularized the talk show genre for television and radio along with his wife, Jinx Falkenburg, with whom he hosted ...
's public relations agency from 1950-1960. During his time working for Tex McCrary, he handled the Lionel trains account. For two years, Johnston served as the associate editor for ''The Lion''—the magazine for the
Lions Clubs International The International Association of Lions Clubs, more commonly known as Lions Clubs International, is an international non-political service organization established originally in 1916 in Chicago, Illinois, by Melvin Jones. It is now headquartere ...
. Beginning in 1960, Johnston worked as a free-lance author. During the span of 1960-1979, Johnston wrote magazine articles and over 100 books, including original novels, movie and TV tie-in novels, and non-fiction. Some of Johnston's tie-in novels involve cartoon characters, and characters from
comic strips A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics ter ...
and
comic books A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
. on Johnston wrote novels based on popular television series such as ''
The Munsters ''The Munsters'' is an American sitcom depicting the home life of a family of benign monsters. The series starred Fred Gwynne as Frankenstein's monsterEpisodes referring to the fact that Herman is Frankenstein's monster include #55, "Just Anoth ...
'', ''
Bewitched ''Bewitched'' is an American fantasy sitcom television series that originally aired for eight seasons on ABC from September 17, 1964, to March 25, 1972. It is about a witch who marries an ordinary mortal man and vows to lead the life of a typic ...
'', ''
The Flying Nun ''The Flying Nun'' is an American sitcom about a community of nuns which included one who could fly when the wind caught her cornette. It was produced by Screen Gems for ABC based on the 1965 book '' The Fifteenth Pelican,'' written by Tere ...
'', ''
Get Smart ''Get Smart'' is an American comedy television series parodying the secret agent genre that had become widely popular in the first half of the 1960s, with the release of the ''James Bond'' films. It was created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, an ...
'', ''
The Brady Bunch ''The Brady Bunch'' is an American sitcom created by Sherwood Schwartz that aired from September 26, 1969, to March 8, 1974, on ABC. The series revolves around a large blended family with six children. The show aired for five seasons and, after ...
'', ''
Nanny and the Professor ''Nanny and the Professor'' is an early 1970s American sitcom created by AJ Carothers and Thomas L. Miller for 20th Century-Fox Television that aired on ABC from January 21, 1970 until December 27, 1971. During pre-production, the proposed tit ...
'', ''
Room 222 ''Room 222'' is an American comedy-drama television series produced by 20th Century Fox Television that aired on ABC for 112 episodes, from September 17, 1969 until January 11, 1974. The show was broadcast on Wednesday evenings at 8:30 ( EST) fo ...
'', ''
Happy Days ''Happy Days'' is an American television sitcom that aired first-run on the ABC network from January 15, 1974, to July 19, 1984, with a total of 255 half-hour episodes spanning 11 seasons. Created by Garry Marshall, it was one of the most succ ...
'', and ''
Welcome Back Kotter ''Welcome Back, Kotter'' is an American sitcom starring Gabe Kaplan as a high-school teacher in charge of a racially and ethnically diverse remedial education class called the "Sweathogs." Recorded in front of a live studio audience, the series ...
''. Many of Johnston's television tie-in novels were related to
sitcoms A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use new ...
, but he worked in other
genres Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...
—except for
science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
. In contrast to more recent tie-in novelists—who have access to email, fax machines, video recorders, computers, photocopying, and other electronic communications—Johnston and other writers of his era wrote their novels on typewriters and had little access to in-depth information on the shows that were the subject of these novels. Communication was by telephone and regular mail, and these novelists watched the programs on television—just like the viewer at home. These tie-in novelists may have had access to some scripts and possibly some film of the television shows from which to work, but they had little else. Although most television series production took place in California, most of the major publishers were located in New York, as they remain today. This distance made it difficult for novelists and editors to get information from the television production companies on characters, plots, locations, and other aspects of the television programs themselves. In addition, tie-in novelists had to work quickly on their books, and had the challenge of developing characters, plots, and dialogue that related closely enough to the original programs, so as to match the expectations of the readers/television viewers. Generally, Johnston worked quickly and could capture critical elements of the TV shows that he wrote about in his novels. Johnston's novels not related to film or television tended to be written for adults and frequently had ribald themes. Johnston was represented by the Scott Meredith Literary Agency, Inc. Johnston did not work exclusively for any one publisher, although he published frequently with
Lancer A lancer was a type of cavalryman who fought with a lance. Lances were used for mounted warfare in Assyria as early as and subsequently by Persia, India, Egypt, China, Greece, and Rome. The weapon was widely used throughout Eurasia during the M ...
,
Tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...
,
Ace An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the c ...
, and Whitman. Tempo marketed its books, including those books that Johnston authored, to children and adolescents. Whitman published books for younger children. Unlike other authors who desired fame, Johnston preferred obscurity. In his article announcing Johnston as the recipient of the Faust Award, David Spencer described Johnston as, "legendary and until now somewhat elusive..." In its entry for Johnston, ''Contemporary Authors Online'' includes this quote from him: "I am interested only in writing entertaining stories and remaining as anonymous as possible." Johnston occasionally used
pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...
s such as the name ''Susan Claudia'' for
Gothic romance Gothic fiction, sometimes called Gothic horror in the 20th century, is a loose literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. The name is a reference to Gothic architecture of the European Middle Ages, which was characteristic of the settings of ea ...
stories. ''They Came From the Sea'' (1969) based on the Television series ''
The New People ''The New People'' is a 1969 American television series on ABC that focused on a group of young college students who were returning from a trip in Southeast Asia when their plane crashed on an island in the south Pacific Ocean. This program is ...
'' was published under the name ''Alex Steele'' Johnston wrote two novels based on the ''Matt Lincoln'' television medical drama, ''The Revolutionist'' (1970) and ''The Hostage'' (1971) using the author name Ed Garth. Johnston also employed a pseudonym, ''William Howard'', for his last book, a
novelization A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, stage play, comic book or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent of ...
of the
Bob Guccione Robert Charles Joseph Edward Sabatini Guccione ( ; December 17, 1930 – October 20, 2010) was an American photographer and publisher. He founded the adult magazine '' Penthouse'' in 1965. This was aimed at competing with Hugh Hefner's ''Playboy' ...
-produced film ''
Caligula Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (31 August 12 – 24 January 41), better known by his nickname Caligula (), was the third Roman emperor, ruling from 37 until his assassination in 41. He was the son of the popular Roman general Germanicu ...
''. Given the controversies related to the movie and given Johnston's association with tie-in novels and younger audiences, Spencer feels that the Johnston chose to use a pseudonym to avoid attracting younger readers to the book.


Critical appraisal

Johnston's novels have attracted little critical attention, although they are well documented in bibliographies by Larson, Peer, and in ''Contemporary Authors''. Tie-in novels, while popular with readers and profitable for publishers, generally do not attract serious criticism and scholarship. Indeed, they are often dismissed as literature. During his career, Johnston's novels were infrequently reviewed. For example, Johnston wrote the
novelization A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, stage play, comic book or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent of ...
of a 1978 made-for-TV movie about
Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...
, and it received a brief review in ''
Library Journal ''Library Journal'' is an American trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey. It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional prac ...
''. The review was generally negative. Johnston's novels have attracted attention from blog writers who deal with popular culture. For example Morgan wrote about Johnston's ''
Nanny and the Professor ''Nanny and the Professor'' is an early 1970s American sitcom created by AJ Carothers and Thomas L. Miller for 20th Century-Fox Television that aired on ABC from January 21, 1970 until December 27, 1971. During pre-production, the proposed tit ...
'', but he felt that Johnston's books had little to do with the spirit and content of the original television series, whereas Caputo felt that Johnston's
Fantastic Four The Fantastic Four is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team debuted in ''The Fantastic Four'' #1 ( cover dated Nov. 1961), helping usher in a new level of realism in the medium. It was the first ...
novel was consistent with the style in the Marvel comic books. Johnston's peers have praised Johnston's work as a tie-in novelist, but they seem equally impressed by the sheer number of tie-in novels he produced.


Retirement and death

Johnston retired from writing and, while living in Long Island, went to a school for bartending. Unsuccessful in finding a job in this field due to his age, Johnston opened his own bar, ''The Blind Pig'', in
Massapequa Massapequa (, ) is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, on the South Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. It is considered the anchor community of the Greater Massapequa area. The po ...
, and he ran it successfully. After running ''The Blind Pig'', Johnston retired a second time, and moved to
San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...
. It was during his residence in San Jose that he received the Grand Master Scribe Award -- ''Faust Award''—from th
International Association of Media Tie-in Writers
Johnston died in San Jose on October 15, 2010."United States Social Security Death Index," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J5RT-HPR : accessed August 26, 2015), William Joseph Johnston, 15 Oct 2010; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).


Awards

Best First Novel—Edgar Award (1960) -- Mystery Writers of America (awarded for ''The Marriage Cage'' (Lyle Stuart, reissued in paperback by Dell)). Grand Master Scribe Award -- ''Faust Award'' (2010) -- International Association of Media Tie-in Writers.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, William 1924 births 2010 deaths People from Lincoln, Illinois 20th-century American novelists American male novelists Novelists from Illinois 20th-century American male writers