How this book came about . . .

For the past five years or more, Steve Johnston – my dad – has been saying he’d like to publish a collection of his columns as a book.

His motive wasn’t to feed his ego, but to provide something his grandchildren ( 3 at last count ) could look at, and learn who their grandpa was and what he did for so many years at The Seattle Times.

With his MS and other medical complications, Dad realized he might not be around as those grandchildren grew up. But if a sampling of his columns were collected, he said, any grandchild who wondered about him could be handed a book and be told: “This is what Grandpa did. Now go away and read about it.”

Because I’m the youngest of his four children (Or is it because I’m his only daughter?) the project landed in my lap. At first, I envisioned a simple, copy-center-type booklet, but slowly the ball began to roll . . .

Bill Ristow, who had been one of my dad’s editors at The Seattle Times, helped immensely to turn dad’s notion into a reality. And two fantastic artists, Fred Birchman and Paul Schmid, who had illustrated Dad’s Sunday Punch column for 20 years, each contributed original artwork for the book.

Slowly, but surely, things fell into place. And now the project is complete.

Tales of the Truly Unplesant represents an amazing accomplishment for my dad, one we hope to share with many readers who appreciated his writing – and even those who may be experiencing the trademark Steve Johnston wit for the first time.

Helping him achieve this goal has meant the world to me.

- Molly Johnston

Seattle Times Article: Columnist Steve Johnston looks back on a life of humor