About
WHIT JOHNSON
Whit grew up in Idaho with a big imagination and boundless energy to explore the nuances and varieties of life. With a passion for writing, he chooses to see life as an ongoing self-created comedy that dabbles in the necessity of drama when life demands it.
Whit spent almost forty years in the procurement and supply chain industry in Arizona, Nevada, and Ohio, but continued to write on the side: screenplays, songs, and short stories. Anything to keep his innate creative juices flowing. He always enjoys volunteer work and has helped dozens of charitable organizations. He served as a leader for organizations such as the United Way at Work Committee, as president of the BFMA-Arizona Chapter, and president of the University of Idaho Alumni Association, his beloved alma mater.
Soon after his retirement in 2019, the pandemic hit and he realized the time had come to follow his dream of becoming a professional writer. To that end, he released an album of songs and poems in the summer of 2021 called Ever Forward, and kept a formal journal of events from 2020 and beyond. The result is this book.
Whit currently resides in Phoenix, Arizona, and loves to volunteer, travel, and spend time with family and friends.
Our 2020
American Odyssey
Whit Johnson’s daily diary of events in the year 2020 provides you a glimpse into the upheaval in the United States caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic, and months of political and social unrest. His notes carry over into the momentous events in early 2021, documenting a historical record of an era filled with unprecedented change.
He relates his own personal journey, using creativity, humor, and introspection from a mostly sequestered balcony’s view of downtown Phoenix, to manage challenges all Americans faced in various environments.
You will find yourself immersed in his love of music, his thought processes and opinions, dealings with severe family issues, maintenance of relationships with distant friends, and his belief that placing faith in humankind and finding the truth will help us work together to overcome division.
REVIEWS
WHAT OUR READERS HAVE SAID
“If you wondered what might be written in a journal by Noah on the ark, Kubla Khan in the pits of traversing the desert, or by Elvis, you are going to love this book. A journal has boring days, but there are always golden nuggets, as you will find here. With Johnson, you get practical insights crisscrossed with the deep philosophical underpinnings of a genius. Search and you shall find these shining nuggets scattered like emeralds, though their pointy shards will hit you with the type of ah-ha moments caused by pain and which embed in your brain forever. Did COVID teach us anything? Yes. And Johnson found those epiphanies, evolving them from crazy to clarity.”
Randy Luten, Soldier, Sportsman, CEO Applied Systems Development (ASD), Executive Director Humanitarian Express, and World Adventurer
“Whit Johnson’s “Our 2020 American Odyssey” reminds us what it was like living through arguably the most momentous, crazy and confusing year in history. But it does more than that. Equal parts diary, history and philosophy, this book wins you over with its irrepressible optimism, love for mankind and unwavering realism. Johnson looks at a world gone crazy while looking inside himself, and the result is somehow sobering, enlightening and fun. And where else can you find a daily John Prine song, unsparing theology and musings about Donald Trump? Reading it will make you stop and remember what it was like during a worldwide pandemic, the most contentious election in American history and a period of social upheaval. It not only will make you think about the past, but make you ponder the future as well.”
Don Shelton, former executive editor, The Seattle Times
“I love the objective yet playful tone that allows the reader to engage in some serious subject matters without feeling tense or anxious, very well done!”
Rachel Gularte, Client Services, 25th Avenue Web Design
“A few good things came from the pandemic, and “Our 2020 American Odyssey” by Whit Johnson is certainly one of them. Whit made me laugh out loud, cry big tears and, at the end of the day, understand just how fragile and beautiful this life is. He recounts his COVID journey with grace, razor sharp wit and a gentleness of spirit sadly rare in this day and age. A must read – pandemic or no!”
Kathy Barnard, Executive Director Office of Alumni Relations, University of Idaho (retired)
PICTURES
ON A LIGHTER NOTE
Preparing to bear my soul in the studio with my uncovered bare head 😄.
Happy Holidays 2020. Annual family cookie bake with hardly any family. The mask is a giveaway to what year it was.
I marched with the peaceful BLM protesters in June 2020 then ran up to my balcony to snap this photo.
My friends COVID cake for his daughter. Eat that virus away 😄👍. Why not 👏.
From the “frog pond”. Great advice from the GOAT hide and seek player 😃.