[1] He graduated from Nathan Hale High School in West Allis, then served with the U.S. Navy in combat forces in the South Pacific during World War II.

In 1966, Johnson wrote a series of investigative reports about high concentrations of DDT in state waters.

Despite threats of lawsuits and demands by chemical companies that he be fired, Johnson kept pursuing environmental stories.

Johnson also took notes on his nature hikes, which he crafted into vignettes, many published in the Milwaukee Sentinel during the years that he worked as outdoor writer for that newspaper.

Johnson was an adventurer who hiked, hunted, fished, and photographed in such far-flung places as Africa, Cuba, the Andes, the Amazon, Mexico, the Yukon, and Alaska.