Nelson C. Johnson (born 1948) is an American author and former judge, lawyer and historian, best known for his 2002 ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' bestseller, ''Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City''. His book served as the basis for the popular and Emmy Award-winning HBO

period Period may refer to: Common uses * Era, a length or span of time * Full stop (or period), a punctuation mark Arts, entertainment, and media * Period (music), a concept in musical composition * Periodic sentence (or rhetorical period), a concept ...

political Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that stud ...

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Ca ...

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

TV series '' Boardwalk Empire''."Book review: Boardwalk Empire by Nelson Johnson"
''The Scotsman'', 28 January 2011.

Early life

Nelson C. Johnson was born in 1948 and was raised in both

Atlantic County, New Jersey Atlantic County is a county located along the southern coast of the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county had a population of 274,534.New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. He attended St. John's University and earned a bachelor's degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

from there. He also went on to earn a JD from the law school of

Villanova University Villanova University is a private Roman Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania. It was founded by the Augustinians in 1842 and named after Saint Thomas of Villanova. The university is the oldest Catholic university in Penns ...

. Johnson is a life-long resident of Hammonton,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

."Judge Nelson Johnson: Atlantic City's Godfather"
''NEWJERSEYMONTHLY.COM'', August 16, 2019

Law career

Johnson was admitted to the New Jersey Bar in 1974. He represented the Atlantic City Planning Board in the early 1980s. In explaining his motivation to write ''Boardwalk Empire'', Johnson explained "It ity Hallwas dysfunctional and corrupt. I thought, in order to do my job here, I have to find out how it got this way. I didn't set out to write a book. I just wanted a better understanding.""Author of 'Boardwalk Empire' helped historical book transition into dramatized crime series"
''BLOG.NJ.COM'', September 19, 2010 Johnson retired from his position as a New Jersey Superior Court Judge in September, 2018. During his tenure on the bench, he handled mass tort cases/product liability claims.

Writing career

Nelson's 2002 book ''Boardwalk Empire'' was the basis for the HBO drama series '' Boardwalk Empire''. Its sequel is ''The Northside: African Americans and the Creation of Atlantic City''. In 2010, Nelson was asked by the New Jersey State Superior Court to cease promoting the book and the series in order to preserve the ethical neutrality of his position as a judge. His third book, published by Rutgers University Press, is ''Battleground New Jersey: Vanderbilt, Hague and Their Fight for Justice'', and is about Jersey City Mayor

Frank Hague Frank Hague (January 17, 1876 – January 1, 1956) was an American Democratic Party politician who served as the Mayor of Jersey City, New Jersey from 1917 to 1947, Democratic National Committeeman from New Jersey from 1922 until 1949, and Vice ...

and Arthur T. Vanderbilt, first chief justice of New Jersey’s modern Supreme Court."Judge details state politics history in book
]. ''MyCentralJersey''. Katie Park January 16, 2015

References

External links

Nelson Johnson's Official Website

''Boardwalk Empire''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Nelson 1948 births Living people 21st-century American writers People from Hammonton, New Jersey New Jersey state court judges 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers St. John's University (New York City) alumni Villanova University alumni Villanova University School of Law alumni Boardwalk Empire Historians from New Jersey American male non-fiction writers