Canada mourns passing of Cree author and lawyer Harold R. Johnson
The influential writer’s books include Firewater: How Alcohol Is Killing My People (and Yours)
Harold R. Johnson Photo via House of Anansi
HAROLD R. JOHNSON, an influential Indigenous writer and lawyer, died on February 9 at age 68, his family has confirmed via Facebook.
“The storyteller, trapper, father, brother, husband, uncle Harold R. Johnson took his final breath today and will continue the rest of his journey on to the other side,” his family said. “He was surrounded by his loved ones.”
Born to a Swedish father and a Cree mother in 1954 in northern Saskatchewan, Johnson enlisted in the Royal Canadian Navy and worked as a logger, trapper, and miner before going to university. He earned his master’s degree at Harvard Law School and worked in private practice for many years before becoming a Crown prosecutor.
Johnson, a member of the Montreal Lake Cree Nation, wrote several fiction and non-fiction books, including Firewater: How Alcohol Is Killing My People (and Yours). Inspired by the loss of his younger brother to a drunk driver, Firewater was a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award for non-fiction.
His other titles include Peace and Good Order: The Case for Indigenous Justice in Canada and, most recently, The Bjorkan Sagas. His final book, The Power of Story, is planned for publication this fall, according to a statement from Transatlantic Agency, a literary management company that worked with him.
No funeral service has been announced, but arrangements for a celebration of life are to follow in coming months.
“Our time with Harold Johnson was too short,” House of Anansi, publisher of The Bjorkan Sagas and Clifford, said in a statement. “We will miss him dearly and send our deepest condolences to his loved ones.”
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