I am a writer and journalist who has had a love affair with travel from my earliest memories. My parents, who served in World War II, brought home exotic figurines, carved wood boxes, inlaid vases, saris and other memorabilia from India and China. I was so intrigued by them and the stories they seemed to tell. My father, a watercolor artist, painted many of the scenes he observed as a pilot during the war -- and these paintings have surrounded me for my entire life.
And, with the road trips we would take in the stylish automobiles that were part of the 1950s mid-century culture, I began exploring many worlds outside central Ohio, where I spent my early years.
I've written a new book about the iconic hometown life that many of us Baby Boomers experienced in the 1950s. The Artist's Eye: Vernon P. Johnson's Watercolors of 1950s Small Town America shows Mount Vernon, Ohio -- heartland America -- at mid-century through his paintings and our family memories. I hope you'll take a look and find your own history -- or that of your family's -- in there.
Professionally I am owner and principal of Johnson Consulting, a strategic communications firm that provides integrated marketing communications for nonprofits of all sizes and small businesses. Our clients are primarily colleges, universities, medical centers and community nonprofits seeking fundraising and marketing communications that tell their story, describe their distinctive essence and connect them more closely to their audiences -- and we partner with other consultants in strategic planning, market research and other activities to enhance organizations' positioning, relevance and value for their multiple constituencies and stakeholders.
As a strategist and practitioner, I've built and managed marketing, branding and fundraising communications initiatives and staffs in complex organizations and had some extraordinary experiences on the frontlines as a journalist with major news media such as The Washington Post and Miami Herald. My favorite interview ever was with Paul Newman, on the set of the film Absence of Malice. I stood in line two nights in the wee hours to be chosen as an extra in that film -- and I was. Blink and you'll see me -- or miss me -- in two newsroom scenes!
Before starting my consulting business in 2005, I spent 12 years in senior communications positions at Georgetown University, Georgetown University Medical Center and Loyola Marymount University. And before that, for 20 years or so, I was a staff writer for The Washington Post and later a correspondent for USA Today, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Miami Herald, Miami Magazine, the Boston Globe and other publications focusing on news, politics, business, health, science, religion and lifestyle topics -- and won several magazine awards.
Memberships -- International Association of Business Communicators, Public Relations Society of America and the Association of Fundraising Professionals. I've served on the nonprofit board of directors of To Celebrate Life Breast Cancer Foundation in Marin County -- and owe a big debt of gratitude to an excellent education at Duke University.
