Johnson’s Tales

Sometimes being a school principal isn't all that its cracked up to be. Especially when you get a call at 2:30AM from the sheriffs office telling you there was a break in.

Gary Johnson was the founder and director of the First Nations Center at the University of Wisconsin Superior where he developed the first nations studies minor. Gary taught many of his classes including the Ojibway Culture Class, without a syllabus, books, and tests. If you showed up and if you showed up and participated, then you passed.

Obstacles, we’ve all faced them. Sometimes an obstacle is in our own mind and other times it’s a human standing in the way of our destiny. Gary knew that he wanted to be a teacher and when one supervisor stood in his way, he found another path to make that dream come true.

This podcast is a labor of love to persevere the stories of the myth, the man, the legend that was Gary Johnson. Gary was larger than life and he wasn’t afraid to tell you how he really felt. He was a father first and an educator second. If you crossed his path he claimed you as his own, whether you liked it or not. Gary thrived in the class room and enjoyed teaching those around him. He upheld the traditions of the past as he put one foot forward in the hopes of a better day. I was lucky enough to be one of his claimed and his mentorship that grew into a friendship was truly a gift. So come along as I let his words flow through the airwaves, because you my friend are in for a Johnson’s tale.