Richard Johnson; TV host with a fatal crash in his past
Hyfler/Rosner
By AMY RABIDEAU SILVERS
asil...@journalsentinel.com
Last Updated: Oct. 21, 2003
For Richard Allen Johnson, life was divided into two parts.
Everything happened either before or after Oct. 13, 1975. A local television
personality, Johnson was driving - driving while intoxicated - when his car
slammed into another vehicle on that day.
Two young women died.
Nothing could ever change that fact, but Johnson changed. He lost his
television job after the crash. He considered suicide. He was convicted of
two counts of homicide by intoxicated use of a motor vehicle. He was
sentenced to one year with work-release privileges, reporting each night to
the Milwaukee County House of Correction.
Johnson also found a new voice as an outspoken advocate for sobriety and
against drunken driving. He did not drink again after that terrible night,
said his wife, Lois Johnson, who spoke after funeral services for her
husband in North Carolina.
"And that's the last time I ever will," Richard Johnson said in 1987. "I
know you're not supposed to say things like that. But I know this: If you
handed me a bottle of booze, put a gun to my head and said drink it, I'd say
go ahead and shoot."
Johnson - better known as Dick Johnson - died Oct. 11 of lung cancer,
diagnosed in June. The diagnosis came soon after what was believed to be
successful treatment for kidney cancer. Johnson was 76. He and his wife
moved from the Milwaukee area to Greensboro, N.C., in 1988.
He was born in Rhinelander, growing up in Waupun in what he later called an
"unconventional" childhood. His father, Pat Johnson, was an assistant deputy
warden at the state prison, and young Dick Johnson was mostly raised by two
aunts. He played football for Waupun High School and married the former Lois
Nyhuis of Waupun.
He joined the Navy during World War II. In 1947, he joined Admiral Byrd's
expedition to Antarctica, using his Morse code skills as radio man. He also
played football with service teams, including a Pacific fleet champion team.
Next came college at the university extension, now the University of
Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He played a little professional football with the
Racine Rocks - at $35 a game - until a broken ankle took him out of the
game.
Salesman turned announcer
He was a salesman in Neenah, scouting around for another job, when he called
WNAM for a sales job in 1952.
"Sorry," someone at the radio station said, "the job has been filled. But,
wait, you've got a good voice. Would you care to audition as an announcer?"
Johnson auditioned at 4:30 p.m. that day and began his first shift at 6 p.m.
"He had time enough to call me and tell me to turn on the radio," said his
wife. "And he read the news."
Work with other stations followed - WHBY in Appleton, WCLO in Janesville and
WREX-TV in Rockford, Ill. By the mid-1950s, Johnson had joined WTMJ radio
and WTMJ-TV in Milwaukee.
A long string of on-air jobs followed, including the color announcing for
Wisconsin football games with sportscaster Mike Walden. He hosted "Bowling
with the Champs" on WTMJ-TV. One early WTMJ radio program was called "Tenth
Inning," with baseball scores, comment and music after Braves' games.
A gifted interviewer, Johnson later moved to WISN-TV and radio, with duties
that included a Packers preview show on television, and radio announcing for
Marquette games with sportscaster Tom Collins. He traveled with the
Marquette University basketball team, once being summoned to a private
interview in Al McGuire's car.
His own career highlights included sports work during the Green Bay Packers'
first two Super Bowl victories.
From 1961 to 1968, he was sports director at WISN-TV, and he briefly
returned to the air there from 1978 until 1980.
Earlier in his career, jazz enthusiast Johnson served as emcee for "The
Sound of Jazz" on WMVS-TV (Channel 10).
By the 1970s, he was host for the popular "Bowling for Dollars" on WVTV
(Channel 18). He was host for "The Bowling Game" and "Pins Over," both on
Channel 18, when the crash occurred in 1975.
The young women killed were Lois T. Thimm of Cedarburg and Jo Ann King of
Port Washington.
After the crash
One night after the fatal crash, Johnson was near suicide - unable to write
to the families of the dead women - when he picked up a daughter's Bible.
"Do not be afraid but speak," he read. "I am with you."
He managed to write the letters and decided to dedicate his life to helping
others with drinking problems. He joined Alcoholics Anonymous and began to
speak publicly, including at countless high schools.
"I don't want sympathy," Johnson said in a 1976 interview. "I just want to
speak wherever and whenever I'm asked. If I can just keep one guy from
having this happen to him . . ."
"I haven't the vaguest idea whether I've helped anybody," he said in 1985.
"But that's not a legitimate reason for not trying. It's an empty hope to
think you can reach everybody. But if I reach somebody, it may be that kid
headed down the road to what happened to me."
In one early talk, he shared a poem that he wrote for his grandchildren,
"The Things I Want for You." The reaction was so positive that Johnson began
writing more poetry. Eventually, he and wife Lois began traveling to art and
crafts shows, selling his poems as framed calligraphy.
He also wrote books of Christian poetry, "Life's Winding Way" and "Faith,
Hope and Reality." Many of the poems talk about what is important in
relationships, in faith.
"I suppose it's only human, looking back at our lives, to concentrate on
pleasant memories and to try to put unpleasant recollections aside," he
wrote in "Faith, Hope and Reality." "I understand why we do it, but I think
it is a mistake."
"He got so much feedback from people, how it changed their habits," said
Lois Johnson. "We have books and books of letters from people who benefited
from his poetry . . . and in their home life. We just went on a cruise in
June, and he spoke from the pulpit on the cruise. And he told his story."
In addition to his wife, survivors include daughters Vicky Gray, Lisa
Parker, Stacy Healy, Amy Yamani; son Fred; brother Robert; grandchildren;
and other relatives.
Funeral services were held in Greensboro.
James Neibaur
wrote on 10/22/03 8:49 PM:
> Everything happened either before or after Oct. 13, 1975. A local television
> personality, Johnson was driving - driving while intoxicated - when his car
> slammed into another vehicle on that day.
>
> Two young women died.
I remembered when that happened. I thought I'd heard that he committed
suicide shortly thereafter. Obviously I was misinformed.
I can't imagine how difficult it would be to live with guilt like that.
JN
King Daevid MacKenzie, UltimaJock!
quotes 'n sez:
>> Everything happened either before or after Oct. 13, 1975. A local
>> television
>> personality, Johnson was driving - driving while intoxicated - when his
>> car
>> slammed into another vehicle on that day.
>>
>> Two young women died.
>
> I remembered when that happened. I thought I'd heard that he committed
> suicide shortly thereafter. Obviously I was misinformed.
...I vaguely recall something about a guy named Thompson who was the backup
sports anchor, behind Earl Gillespie, on WITI Channel 6 and later a talk
show host on WCGV Channel 24 whose career came to an abrupt halt circa '81
when he was busted for some sexual crime or other, and committed suicide
between the bust and the trial; perhaps _that's_ the suicide you're
recalling?...
--
Using M2, Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/
James Neibaur
UltimaJock! at kingd...@jvlnet.com wrote on 10/23/03 5:21 PM:
> ...I vaguely recall something about a guy named Thompson who was the backup
> sports anchor, behind Earl Gillespie, on WITI Channel 6 and later a talk
> show host on WCGV Channel 24 whose career came to an abrupt halt circa '81
> when he was busted for some sexual crime or other, and committed suicide
> between the bust and the trial; perhaps _that's_ the suicide you're
> recalling?...
Yeah, probably.
Earl Gillespie! Haven't heard that name in a long time. Is he still alive?
JN
King Daevid MacKenzie, UltimaJock!
> Earl Gillespie! Haven't heard that name in a long time. Is he still
> alive?
...at least he was as of November 2001, when he was inducted into the
Wisconsin Sports Walk of Fame...
James Neibaur
UltimaJock! at kingd...@jvlnet.com wrote on 10/23/03 11:27 PM:
> ...at least he was as of November 2001, when he was inducted into the
> Wisconsin Sports Walk of Fame...
I remember back in the sixties and early seventies when Gillespie was doing
sports on WITI, the weatherman was Ward Allen and a puppet known as Albert
the Alley Cat. It was very popular and, to my knowledge, that setup was
never repeated. I know Jack DuBlon, who operated Albert, has died. And I
think I recall that Ward Allen is gone too.
I know the newsman from that era, Carl Zimmerman, is still around as he does
the occasional commercial for Senior Citizen centers in the area.
Whew, long time since I have thought of those names.
JN
Rich Clancey
+ Everything happened either before or after Oct. 13, 1975. A local television
+ personality, Johnson was driving - driving while intoxicated - when his car
+ slammed into another vehicle on that day.
+ Two young women died.
+ Nothing could ever change that fact, but Johnson changed. He lost his
+ television job after the crash. He considered suicide. He was convicted of
+ two counts of homicide by intoxicated use of a motor vehicle. He was
+ sentenced to one year with work-release privileges, reporting each night to
+ the Milwaukee County House of Correction.
For killing two women? I'm glad he pulled himself together, but
this sounds like a miscarriage of justice to me.
--
rich clancey
The troublesome ones in a family are usually either
the wits or the idiots. -- George Eliot
shad...@gmail.com
Watch the first video:
http://fox6now.com/2017/07/24/people-were-just-fascinated-with-a-sock-puppet-where-is-he-whats-he-up-to-in-search-of-albert-the-alley-cat/