Paul Johnson: Bio, Wiki, Career, Controversy, Death Cause and More
Paul Bede Johnson CBE was an English journalist, popular historian, speechwriter, and author.
He was born on November 2, 1928 and passed away on January 12, 2023.
In the early stages of his work, he was connected with the political left; however, he later became a prominent conservative historian.
Johnson received his education from the private Jesuit institution Stonyhurst College as well as from Oxford University’s Magdalen College.
In the 1950s, he began his career as a journalist, first contributing to and subsequently editing the publication known as the New Statesman magazine.
Johnson was a prolific author who penned over 50 novels and contributed to a wide variety of publications including newspapers and journals.
His children include the writer Daniel Johnson, who was the founder of the magazine Standpoint, as well as the businessman Luke Johnson, who was the previous chairman of Channel.
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Paul Johnson: Cause Of Death
Paul Johnson, a prolific journalist, historian, biographer, speechwriter, and novelist whose public conversion in 1977 from Labour Party stalwart to bulldog defender of Margaret
Thatcher and conservatism made him a divisive figure in British literary circles, passed away on Thursday at his home in London. Johnson’s public conversion in 1977 from Labour Party stalwart to bulldog defender of Margaret Thatcher and conservatism made him a divisive figure in British literary circles. He was 94.
On Twitter, his son Daniel broke the news of his passing, writing that it came “after a long illness.”
Mr. Johnson fashioned his writing career after those of older English men of letters, such as Thomas Babington Macaulay and G.K. Chesterton.
He was a writer with an enormous range and production, and he was capable of writing 6,000 words per day when he was in harness.
He had a friendly writing style, and he was supremely confident in his own opinions, so he wasn’t afraid to deliver forceful judgements on almost anything, whether it was the complicated politics of the Middle East, his own personal search for God, or the cultural significance of the Spice Girls. He was happy to do so.
Paul Johnson: Early Life
Manchester is Johnson’s place of birth. His father, William Aloysius Johnson, was a well-known artist and the head of the art school at Burslem, which is located in the city of Stoke-on-Trent in the county of Staffordshire.
Johnson had an education that was rooted in the Jesuit system at Stonyhurst College, which he favoured over the more secularised curriculum of Oxford, where he received his schooling.
During his time at Oxford, Johnson was a part of the prestigious Stubbs Society and received academic guidance from the renowned historian A. J. P. Taylor.
After receiving a degree with a second-class honours, Johnson did his national service in the Army.
He first joined the King’s Royal Rifle Corps, and then he joined the Royal Army Educational Corps, where he was commissioned as a Captain (acting) and was primarily stationed in Gibraltar. Johnson’s primary duty was to train new recruits.
The “grim misery and savagery of the Franco government” were on full display for him in this location.
Johnson’s service record was a factor in the decision to hire him at the Paris publication Réalités, where he worked as an assistant editor from 1952 until 1955.
During this time period, Johnson developed a left-wing political outlook as a result of his observation of the police response to a riot in Paris in May 1952.
The riot was caused by communists protesting the visit of an American general named Matthew Ridgway, who commanded the US Eighth Army during the Korean War and had just been appointed NATO’s Supreme Commander in Europe.
Johnson stated that he “would not have believed the ferocity [of the response] had I not seen it with my After that, he took up the role of Paris correspondent for the New Statesman.
During that period, he was an ardent supporter of the Bevanites and even worked closely with Aneurin Bevan himself. After relocating to London in 1955, Johnson became a member of the Statesman’s editorial team.
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Paul Johnson: Bio
Johnson was educated at Stonyhurst College, a Jesuit primary and secondary school, and the University of Oxford, where he met Margaret Thatcher and studied under the left-wing historian and journalist A.J.P. Taylor.
Johnson was born on November 2, 1928 in Manchester, England, and he received his education there.
After receiving his diploma, Johnson enlisted in the British Army and spent the majority of his time stationed in Gibraltar.
After completing his duty in the military, he was hired by the Paris publication “Realites,” and he was later given the position of Paris correspondent for the New Statesman, a British publication that covers current affairs.
Johnson was employed by the magazine after moving back to London, and from 1965 to 1970, he held the role of editor for the publication.
Throughout the 1970s, Johnson’s viewpoint became increasingly conservative, and he began to promote Thatcher’s idea of smaller government and lower taxes.
Paul Johnson: Private Life
Marigold Hunt, Paul Johnson’s wife, was a psychotherapist and a former parliamentary candidate for the Labour Party. Her father, Dr. Thomas Hunt, was a physician who treated Winston Churchill, Clement Attlee, and Anthony Eden.
Paul Johnson married Marigold Hunt in 1958. They had four children: the journalist Daniel Johnson, a freelance writer, editor of Standpoint magazine, and formerly associate editor of The Daily Telegraph; Luke Johnson, a businessman and the former chairman of Channel 4 Television; Sophie Johnson-Clark, an independent television executive; and Cosmo Johnson, a playwright. Daniel Johnson is a freelance writer.
There are 10 grandchildren in Paul and Marigold Johnson’s family. Sarah Johnson, the sister of Marigold Johnson, is an art historian.
She married George Walden, a journalist, politician, and former diplomat; their daughter, Celia Walden, is married to Piers Morgan, a television presenter and former newspaper editor.
It was revealed in 1998 that Johnson had an affair with a freelance journalist named Gloria Stewart that lasted for eleven years.
Stewart recorded the two of them together in Johnson’s study “at the behest of a British tabloid.” Stewart claimed that she made the affair public via the newspapers due to what she saw as Johnson’s hypocrisy regarding his views on morality, religion, and family values; however, she acknowledged that their affair had ended when Johnson “found another girlfriend.”
Johnson was a talented watercolorist who worked constantly. Tom Stoppard, a playwright and friend of the actor, wrote a play called Night and Day in 1978 and dedicated it to the actor.
On the 12th of January 2023, Johnson passed away in the comfort of his home in London at the age of 94.
Paul Johnson: Honours
Johnson was presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by George W. Bush, the 41st President of the United States, in the year 2006.
Johnson was recognised for his contributions to the literary world and awarded the rank of Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the Birthday Honours for 2016.
Paul Johnson: Controversy
The opinions held by Johnson were not always well received, such as when he placed Lee Kwan Yew, the man credited with founding modern Singapore, at the top of his list of the 20th century’s most significant political individuals.
Ignoring those who denounced him as a tyrant who unjustly arrested opponents, Lee was able to build Singapore into one of the “richest, safest, most orderly and sensible countries” in the world, according to Johnson’s writing.
On the same list, Johnson disparaged Nelson Mandela by saying that South Africa “headed straight for the rocks” under Mandela’s “timid reign.”
Between the years 1981 and 2009, Johnson contributed a column to The Spectator, a conservative British journal that focuses on politics and culture.
In that column, he included the following list.
In addition, he authored a column for the Daily Mail, which is a publication that has traditionally supported the Conservative Party in Britain, until the year 2001.