Don’t Miss the Miracles
A Memoir by Chuck Johnston
Don’t Miss the Miracles
A fascinating memoir of the life of Chuck Johnston, an educator, philosopher, adventurer, believer, and explorer of faith and understanding. Launched from the framework of solid, unforgettable family relationships, the book includes events and thoughts from daily journals, and recounts experiences, personal issues and growth, development of beliefs and spiritual awareness, and love of the arts, literature and the outdoors. The author also reflects on a career that moved from teaching and coaching to leading and creating schools and significant academic institutions in the Southeast.
Johnston weaves a candid tale of a life with faith, family and friends at its forefront, an eight-decade run trained by joy and heartbreak, driven by kindness and empathy, all met with cheer, humor and humility. His is an admirable story, filled with enthusiasm, one that has had a lasting sway on others, including countless students, teachers and acquaintances.
The path he took in life led him to advanced degrees from Vanderbilt and Emory universities and a career devoted to education. The trail also honed his staunch beliefs in fairness and racial equity, and he has been a leader in schools and projects to increase opportunities for the underserved.
About Chuck Johnston
Born in 1940, Chuck Johnston grew up in Atlanta’s Buckhead neighborhood, attending Atlanta Public Schools that were segregated at the time both for elementary and high school. He followed his two older brothers by going off to Vanderbilt for college.
While in college he knew he wanted to teach English and coach (primarily track, which had been his sport in college). Upon graduation (1962), Chuck taught 10th grade English to all-boys classes at The McCallie School. McCallie was followed by a year in France studying and travelling, a year back at Vanderbilt for a Master’s degree, and then to an education of teaching and administering at numerous school, in this order: Westminster (Atlanta), Brookstone (Columbus, GA), Berry Academy (Rome, GA), Trinity School (Atlanta), and Robert Louis Stevenson School (Pebble Beach, CA). With the interval of being the executive director of the Atlanta Ballet and president of the Children’s Education Foundation, he concluded his career in education with Whitefield Academy (Atlanta), and the Atlanta Youth Academy. While at Berry Academy, he did achieve a second masters in the inaugural class of Emory’s Executive MBA program, 1980.
Now in his early 80’s, Chuck lives with his artist wife JoElyn in the Atlanta urban neighborhood of Grove Park. As of the beginning of 2016 he retired as president of Grove Park Renewal LLC, an effort to support the strong sense of community already existing in the Grove Park Neighborhood (est. 1920) off of Hollowell Parkway (aka Bankhead). While still involved in neighborhood matters, he now spends as much time as possible writing.
Chuck Johnston, age 80
Chuck with brothers Dick, Dillon and Warren
Chuck at a Civil Rights march in Downtown Atlanta