Birger L. Johnson

Birger L. Johnson is a retured university professor. He was born to immigrant Norwegian parents in 1919. He matriculated through High School and college in Mayville, No. Dak, with his first two collegiate years spent at Jamestown College, No. Dak. A lifetime of sports and recreation began in High School there as a varsity football and basketball player that continued through his collegiate career. He was also a scholar, earning advanced degrees from the University of Oregon and the University of Southern California,finishing with a PhD degree in Sports Sciences. He served also overseas as a Fulbright Lecturer at the University of Jyvasskyla in Finland and as a visiting Reseaarch Profesor at Idrettshogskola in Oslo, Norway. His writing evolved from research reporting through freelance journal and magazine writing to writing fiction novels. To date there are five novels, all written in his last ten retirement years. He draws heavely from his lifetime participation in sports and recreation. including experiences in fishing, hunting, swimming, boating, scuba diving, and mountain skiing. He served over twenty years as a certified Ski Patroller, skied in NASTAR races, backpacked throughout the Calif. Sierra Mts, and chartered bareboat vessels for sailing amongst Alaska's ocean islands. He coached several athletic sports in both High School and College. He and his wife have traveled widely, visting most of the European countries as well as several counties in Asia and "downunder." He and his wife raised three children and the two now reside in Fresno, California.