Harold R. Johnson

{{Short description|Canadian lawyer and writer (1954–2022)}}

{{Infobox writer

| name = Harold R. Johnson

| image =

| caption =

| birth_place = Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Canada

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1954|08|30}}

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2022|02|09|1954|08|30|}}

| death_place = Mount Forest, Ontario

| occupation = Lawyer, writer

| period =

| notable_works = {{Plainlist|

• Firewater: How Alcohol Is Killing My People (And Yours) (2016)
• Peace and Good Order: The Case for Indigenous Justice in Canada (2019)
• The Power of Story: On Truth, the Trickster, and New Fictions for a New Era (2022)

}}

| spouse =

| awards =

| website =

}}

Harold R. Johnson (August 30, 1954–February 9, 2022){{Cite web|date=May 14, 2022|title=Harold JOHNSON (Ray) |url=https://www.remembering.ca/obituary/harold-johnson-1085098667|access-date=April 25, 2024}} was a Canadian indigenous lawyer and writer, whose book Firewater: How Alcohol Is Killing My People (And Yours) was a shortlisted nominee for the Governor General's Award for English-language non-fiction at the 2016 Governor General's Awards."Two Sask. authors up for Governor General's awards". Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, October 5, 2016. The book, an examination of the problem with alcohol consumption among Canadian First Nations, draws on Johnson's work as a Crown prosecutor in northern Saskatchewan.[http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-september-27-2016-1.3780316/indigenous-people-need-to-tell-their-stories-of-sobriety-says-lawyer-1.3780373 "Indigenous people need to tell their stories of sobriety, says lawyer"]. The Current, September 27, 2016.

Johnson told CBC Radio interviewer Shelagh Rogers in 2016 that his father was a Swedish immigrant and his mother a Cree woman in Saskatchewan, where he was born. He enlisted in the Royal Canadian Navy and worked as a logger, trapper and miner before going to university as an adult, completing his education in law with an MA at Harvard. He was a member of the Montreal Lake Cree Nation.{{Cite web|date=February 9, 2022|title=Author, lawyer, trapper Harold R. Johnson passes away|url=https://paherald.sk.ca/author-lawyer-trapper-harold-r-johnson-passes-away/|access-date=April 25, 2024}}

After being diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer, Johnson died on February 9, 2022, at the age of 67.{{Cite web|date=May 14, 2022|title=Harold JOHNSON (Ray)|url=https://www.remembering.ca/obituary/harold-johnson-1085098667|access-date=April 25, 2024}} His twelfth and final book, The Power of Story was released posthumously in October 2022.

Daniel Grenier received a Governor General's Award nomination for English to French translation at the 2024 Governor General's Awards, for his translation of Johnson's Charlie Muskrat.Laila Maalouf, [https://www.lapresse.ca/arts/litterature/2024-10-08/prix-litteraires-du-gouverneur-general/emmanuelle-pierrot-et-lea-clermont-dion-parmi-les-finalistes.php "Emmanuelle Pierrot et Léa Clermont-Dion parmi les finalistes"]. La Presse, October 8, 2024.