St George Illawarra Dragons recently hosted a launch for a book about the late Brian Johnson that has been described as a “beautiful but harrowing love story” by leading sports author and publisher Geoff Armstrong.
Titled “Letters for Brian: Writing through the silence of dementia” the book was written by Johnson’s wife, Karen, who was his high school sweetheart and was married to him for 37 years before he lost his battle with dementia in 2016.
“It’s not a story about Rugby League, it’s a harrowing story of a great footballer who went through hell basically,” Armstrong said.
“It’s not a sport book, it’s much, much more than that.”
Johnson was a blond-haired fullback who started his career with the St George Dragons in 1979 and quickly became a fan favourite after winning a premiership with the club that year.
He was named Dally M fullback of the year in 1980, and spent six years at the Red V, one season at Eastern Suburbs and three at Warrington before retiring and moving into coaching.
“He was a free-flowing, blond-haired fullback who was really quick and he scored some spectacular length-of-the-field tries,” Armstrong said.
“He was a really, really good player in an era of great fullbacks like Graham Eadie, John Dorahy, Garry Dowling and Ted Goodwin. There were so many great ones, and he was right up there.”
In 2010, Johnson was diagnosed with early onset dementia and the book details the struggles that he and his loved ones face on a daily basis until he passed six years later.
Armstrong became aware that Karen was writing a book about her husband in 2024 and encouraged her to keep going.
“It’s a story that needed to be published,” he said.
Karen worked with editor Emma Driver to turn the draft manuscript into a finished product, and as Roy Masters writes in his foreword, the end-result is ‘a book written in simple, yet beautiful language [that] takes us on a journey from Karen being “the world’s most dedicated girlfriend” to a devoted carer of a man we loved and respected’.
Armstrong said he highly recommended the book as it told an important story.
“It’s a story of childhood sweethearts, they met at Dapto High when Brian was 17 and Karen was 15 and they got married just before Brian made his debut for St George in ’79,” Armstrong said.
“He had a life in football and then his life fell apart when he was diagnosed with early onset dementia and the book focuses on their struggles and just how difficult life can be for family.
“It’s a difficult book but in the end it’s a love story and that’s the beautiful part of it. For anyone who’s lived through dementia, either close-up or at a distance, this is a really important book.”
“Letters for Brian: Writing through the silence of dementia” is available from Dapto Leagues Club with $5 from every purchase going to Family of League.
The book is also available from the links below:
Amazon https://tinyurl.com/2nwttjmc
Booktopia https://tinyurl.com/3h97d9ur
Click here for more information about dementia.
