Guy Johnson

1945 - 2023

Guy Johnson
Mr. GUY JOHNSON was born on September 8, 1945, in San Francisco, California, the only child of Dr. Maya Angelou. Mr. Johnson was a lover of life, family, adventure, writing and poetry, and community activism. He would often say that "although I write from the African American perspective, I want my writing to have the common denominator of humanity."
His early years were filled with family visits to Arkansas, exploring museums and libraries in New York City, and travel-both domestic and abroad. With his mother's involvement in the Civil Rights Movement, he met iconic leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X.
Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X met at his mother's home, and they ate fried chicken at the request of a young Mr. Johnson. In his early teens, with Harlem Writers Guild meetings hosted at his home, he would listen in on the vibrant readings and thoughts of literary greats such as James Baldwin, Louise Meriwether, John O. Killens, Rosa Guy, and his mother. These experiences shaped his desire to be a writer.
"I grew up in her light. Sometimes I wasn't worthy of it, but it has always been an experience that expanded me." - Mr. Guy Johnson
In the early 1960s, Mr. Johnson moved to northern Africa with his mother. He graduated from Cairo American College in Cairo, Egypt and studied economics at the University of Ghana in Accra. Upon graduating, he managed a bar in the south of Barcelona, Spain, ran a photo-safari service from London through Morocco and Algeria, and worked on oil rigs in Kuwait. He lived in New York City, Hawaii, Cleveland, Los Angeles, and Mexico. When he returned to northern California, he worked with the County of Sonoma as a personnel analyst. For more than twenty years, he served as a manager with the local government of Oakland, California.
Mr. Johnson retired from local government and, following the literary tradition established by his family, published two novels: Standing at the Scratch Line and Echoes of a Distant Summer. Works from his book of poems In the Wild Shadows have appeared in Essence magazine and in My Brother's Keeper, an anthology of Black male poets.
His commitment to community activism and philanthropy ran deep-having served on several nonprofit boards in California's Bay Area. In honor of his mother, he served as president and board chair of the Dr. Maya Angelou Foundation. In 2019, he launched the Dr. Maya Angelou Essay Writing Contest, an initiative to encourage public high school students to find, develop, and strengthen their own voice through the power of the written word.
Mr. Johnson peacefully ascended beyond the clouds on February 16, 2022 at his home in Oakland, California. He was seventy-six years old.
He is survived by his loving wife, Mrs. Stephanie Floyd-Johnson, two sons, two grandchildren, and a beautifully diverse tapestry of family and friends.
"A great soul serves everyone all the time. A great soul never dies. It brings us together again and again."
- Dr. Maya Angelou
On Sunday, September 10, 2023, at 1:30 pm, a Celebration of the Life of Guy Johnson will be held at Glide Memorial Church, 330 Ellis Street, San Francisco, CA 94102. The family of Guy Johnson requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Dr. Maya Angelou Foundation (https://bit.ly/DrMayaAngelouFoundation) or mailed to the Dr. Maya Angelou Foundation, 3170 Crow Canyon Place, Suite 180, Sam Ramon, CA 94583