Mr. Marcus M. Johnson Jr.

Marcus M. Johnson, Jr. is a writer, retired higher education administrator and English instructor, mentor, and community activist whose work has always centered on one fundamental belief — that access to knowledge changes lives.

A lifelong advocate for education and community development, Marcus dedicated his early career to closing gaps. In the classroom he taught the power of language. In administration he built systems that opened doors. In his community he has shown up consistently for the people who needed someone in their corner. When a stroke ended his career in higher education, he refused to let it end his voice — instead embracing adaptive technology to continue the work he was called to do.

Marcus currently serves as a mentor and board member with a nonprofit dedicated to fostering Christian values in young men, increasing graduation rates, and encouraging the pursuit of higher education. A featured author at the 2016 Decatur Book Festival in Decatur, Georgia, he lives and works in the state where some of the communities that have inspired his stories are not fictional — they are home.