Warren Johnston

1946 - 2023

Warren Johnston

South Royalton, VT - Warren Johnston, a veteran newsman, who put in tours of duty in six cities over four decades died on December 9, 2023 at the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon. He was 77. The cause was complications of cardiac surgery.

In a long and prolific career, Mr. Johnston had stints as the editor of The Natchez (Miss.) Democrat, Bureau Chief at The Tampa (Fla.) Tribune, as an editor at the Las Vegas Sun and as editor, reporter, and columnist at the Valley News.

Low key and gentle, but with high standards, he was an unflappable journalist, described by Tampa Tribune colleague Mark Davis as a "true Southern gentleman" who epitomized the very best traits of the expression - soft spoken and slow to anger. Long-time food writer and restaurant critic at The Tribune, Mary Scourtes, remembers him as an "authoritative editor who knew how to weigh a situation critically, while helping a reporter craft a story in the best possible light."

Mr. Johnston was born in Atlanta, GA on June 23, 1946, to Richard B. and Jane Dillon Johnston, the youngest of four sons. He attended North Fulton High School where he was twice elected class president, served on the student council and, like his brothers, played football and ran track. He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Georgia in history in 1969.

After a start in commercial real estate in Atlanta, he went on to open a restaurant with Louis Osteen, a long-time friend who later became a James Beard recognized chef. Unfulfilled by these early work experiences, he spent a year in the graduate journalism program at the University of Georgia. There he met Sandy Gaines, a beautiful art student who he married on July 29, 1978. Friends recall that from then on, the couple were regarded as one word, "warrenandsandy" – "you never thought of them separately."

Mr. Johnston was perhaps best known as a mentor and leader who helped shape the careers of numerous young journalists, encouraging them to approach their stories from a personal perspective, and bring humanity to bear in the telling. He was a fearless boss, uncompromising in his commitment to his team and extremely generous to those people he loved. Famous for defending his reporters from imperious editors, he advised them not to be afraid, to stand their ground and cover the story.

He made work fun, appreciated the good times, and his staff loved him in return. In doing so, he fostered teams so devoted to him that even 30 years later, remembrances evoked comments like that of former Tribune staff writer Susan Snyder. "We trusted him," she said. "I would have walked in front of a bus if he asked me to."

Fellow reporter Geoff Mahon, who went on to a long career at the Los Angeles Times, recalled. " I never worked with a group that had more esprit de corps, that really wanted to go out and prove they could tell a story. Warren encouraged me to do new things, to approach a story differently." Dan Turner, who later served as communications director for Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, said, "He made us better than we were, better than we could have been without him and dammit, we had a helluva time."

In every place he lived, Mr. Johnston left behind a trail of goodwill and affection of friends enriched by his compassion, kindnesses, and good cooking, of rescued pets and rehabilitated homes. In his legacy, are communities improved through his activism – the rice fields rejuvenated as a result of the Pawleys Island (S.C) Crawfish festival that he founded with Osteen, producing sustenance and jobs for the community for more than a decade. In Raeford, N.C., and Natchez, Miss., the economic impact that resulted from his founding of the Turkey Festival and the Balloon Festival respectively, remains today.

Following retirement in 2015 from his last job at the Valley News and while living in Vermont's Upper Valley, he was involved with the Upper Valley Trails and worked with the Alliance for Vermont Communities, responsible for stopping the New Vistas project, a planned community that had it succeeded would have desecrated that pristine community.

Emmy Award winning journalist and Las Vegas colleague Mark Shaffer echoes the sentiments of many: "I learned more about life, journalism, food, wine, and patience from Warren in my short time in Vegas than in all the years prior. His loss is immense."

Warren Johnston is preceded in death by his brother W. Dillon Johnston, Ph.D (English Literature) and is survived by his wife of 45 years, Sandy Gaines Johnston of South Royalton, his brother Richard B. Johnston, Jr. M.D., of Denver, Colo., and Charles L. Johnston, master's degree (English Literature) of Atlanta.

To honor the memory of Mr. Johnston, the family invites you to contribute to The Vermont Food Bank in his name;

https://fundraise.vtfoodbank.org/give/413222/#!/donation/checkout