Al Johnson, former Charlotte Observer reporter and editor, dies at age 70

Al Johnson, a former Charlotte Observer reporter and editor credited with expanding the newspaper’s regional footprint in the 1980s, died in hospice care on Sept. 23 at age 70.

Johnson joined the Observer in 1977 and left the newspaper in 1986 to become executive managing editor of the Gary (Ind.) Post-Tribune.

At the Observer, he served successively as an investigative reporter, assistant state editor, York Observer editor, regional editor and assistant to the editor.

He later became executive editor and vice president of the Ledger-Enquirer in Columbus, Ga.

His wife, Barbara, speaking via telephone from their home in Summerfield, N.C., told the Ledger-Enquirer that Johnson had recently chosen to go off dialysis after many complications. He had been diagnosed with cancer and previously underwent both a heart transplant and kidney transplant. On Sept. 4, he fell and broke his hip.

“Al had been ill for quite some time,” Barbara Johnson told the newspaper. “This past year has been very difficult.”

Johnson was cremated, and his wife plans a memorial service in about a month.

When Johnson was named editor in Columbus, it was the first time an African-American had held such a position at a newspaper in the South, the newspaper reported. But his wife said Johnson did not think much about that.

“He used to say that editors are not colorful subjects,” Barbara Johnson told the Ledger-Enquirer. “ He loved journalism and just wanted to put out the best newspaper he could. He wanted to be able to put people’s lives in perspective.”

“Al Johnson cared about readers and how they were served by journalism,” John Greenman, the Ledger-Enquirer’s publisher when Johnson was in Columbus, told the newspaper. “Al and I talked often about context and perspective, about how to cover a community as diverse and complex as Columbus. Al pushed hard for improvement everywhere and got results.”

Barbara Johnson said her husband did not take himself too seriously. “Everybody just loved his smile,” she told the Ledger-Enquirer.

Johnson worked at the Ledger-Enquirer from 1991 to 1997, then as associate publisher of the Houston Business Journal in Texas.

He also was publisher of The Business Journal in Greensboro, and his last position was editor of Business East, a monthly business-to-business publication in New Bern, according to the Ledger-Enquirer.

Besides his wife, Johnson is survived by daughters Sheryl Mosley and Rochelle Muse, son, Barry Johnson, and four grandchildren.

This story was originally published September 28, 2016 at 9:20 PM with the headline "Al Johnson, former Charlotte Observer reporter and editor, dies at age 70."