Russell Johnson was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1959 but has lived in Memphis, Tennessee since he was a small child. He published Memphis Then and Now in 2008. The revised edition of that book will be published in October 2017. He works as a technical advisor within the transportation industry. In 2017 he began the website HistoryofMemphis.com, a work in progress. He, his wife Ramona and their dog Henry live in Bartlett, TN.