William Johnson (Canadian author)

William Denis Hertel Johnson, CM (23 April 1931 – 2 March 2020) was a Canadian academic, journalist, and author.^[1]

Early life and education

Johnson's mother was

For seven years Johnson attended Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf in Montreal, and held an MA in French literature from the Université de Montréal. At home, he spoke only French with his wife, who has a doctorate in French literature.^[2]

Career

Johnson taught sociology at the University of Toronto before becoming a journalist, working as a parliamentary correspondent in Quebec City and Washington, D.C. for The Globe and Mail and as a journalist and parliamentary reporter for the Montreal Gazette in Ottawa, Ontario.

In 1982, Johnson was made a Member of the Order of Canada with the citation that his "daily reports from Quebec on social, cultural, and political affairs have given Anglophone readers new insights into the problems and aspirations of Francophones and have contributed notably to Canadian unity." He wrote about the role that attitudes and misconceptions have played in the history of the Quebec sovereignty movement.

Johnson was elected president of the lobby group