The Fall and Rise of Tyler Johnson: Based on the Journals of a Young Man Turned Fugitive - Tapa blanda

Reseña del editor

The book is full of vivid people and places. The conflicts are intense and compelling and heartbreaking. This is a rich book—emotionally, psychologically, intellectually. It’s the best kind of creative nonfiction. It’s both topical and poignant. —Mark Spencer, author of Ghost Walking and A Haunted Love Story

The Fall and Rise of Tyler Johnson was recently selected as Winner of the 2018 National Indie Excellence Award for new nonfiction. Plus, the National Federation of Press Women’s 2018 National Communications contest awarded the book First Place At-Large and Honorable Mention U.S in the category of nonfiction books for adult readers-biography or autobiography.

This serious, tender, and gentle-humored work of creative nonfiction weaves a powerful account of Patrice Johnson’s son as a fugitive of the US government. The 496-page book, based on Tyler Johnson’s journals as recovered after his death, raises a warning flag to young people who may feel inclined to commit impulsive acts with irreversible consequences. The fast-moving plot reveals the degradations of homelessness and the resilience of the human spirit—and explores a tumultuous love story.

Tyler Johnson has a bright future ahead of him. Major scientific journals have published his research in quantum physics and in artificial intelligence, and he has recently graduated from Caltech. He has a position in a doctoral program at the University of New Mexico waiting for him, but before he can arrive at the school, everything changes.

Tyler's Caltech mentor and friend arranges a send-off party. The plan: to slap bumper stickers on SUVs in protest of the damage gas guzzlers do the environment. But the evening of binge drinking spins out of control, and a Hummer at a California dealership erupts in flames.

Suddenly, Tyler is labeled an environmental extremist, a domestic terrorist. He has two choices: Come forward and risk spending the rest of his years in prison or run for his life with the woman he loves.

Tyler runs. His goal: to find a remedy and come home.

The story that follows shows the fallout of one impulsive mistake. In attempting to evade the FBI and live free, Tyler and his beloved Yuki struggle to survive off the grid in the desert and mountain wilds of a remote French island and on the streets of Marseilles and Paris. They manage to stave off starvation and thirst, mountain storms and frigid cold, attacks from hoodlums and desert boars—all while isolation and fear chip away at their relationship.

A portion of all royalties will be donated to the Longmont Community Justice Partnership (LCJP).

Biografía del autor

Patrice Johnson is publishing her account of the life of her son, Tyler, to tell the true story.

Patrice graduated summa cum laude from Alma College and received her master’s degree in English literature from Michigan State University. When her children were young, she taught high school English and community college writing. She then spent sixteen years in the computer industry, serving as vice president of marketing and communications with a Fortune 500 company and as a weekly columnist for the industry’s largest trade publication. She has founded three successful technology companies and authored a chapter in a college textbook on quality.

Patrice has been quoted in USA Today and Business Week and currently helps write and edit a community newspaper. Her work has received six first-place awards from the Michigan Press Women.

She and her husband live on an eighty-acre farm in the Midwest. Contact: thefallandriseoftylerjohnson@gmail.com