Patrick Spencer Johnson (November 24, 1938 – July 3, 2017) was an American writer. He was known for the ValueTales series of children's books, and for his 1998

self-help book A self-help book is one that is written with the intention to instruct its readers on solving personal problems. The books take their name from ''Self-Help'', an 1859 best-seller by Samuel Smiles, but are also known and classified under "self-i ...

'' Who Moved My Cheese?'', which recurred on the ''New York Times'' Bestseller list, on the ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

Hardcover A hardcover, hard cover, or hardback (also known as hardbound, and sometimes as casebound (At p. 247.)) book is one bookbinding, bound with rigid protective covers (typically of binder's board or heavy paperboard covered with buckram or other clo ...

nonfiction list. Johnson was the chairman of Spencer Johnson Partners.

Biography

Spencer Johnson was born in Watertown, South Dakota, graduated from Notre Dame High School of Sherman Oaks,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, in 1957, received a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in psychology from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

in 1963, and his

medical degree A medical degree is a professional degree admitted to those who have passed coursework in the fields of medicine and/or surgery from an accredited medical school. Obtaining a degree in medicine allows for the recipient to continue on into special ...

from the

Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) is a not-for-profit medical professional and educational institution, which is also known as RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences. It was established in 1784 as the national body ...

. Johnson lived in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

and

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

. He was employed by the

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

and the John F. Kennedy School of Government. He died in San Diego on July 3, 2017, at the age of 78.

Notable works

Johnson wrote the book ''"Yes" or "No": The Guide to Better Decisions'' (1992). He co-authored the '' One Minute Manager'' series of books with management writer

Ken Blanchard Kenneth Hartley Blanchard (born May 6, 1939) is an American author, business consultant and motivational speaker who has written more than 70 books, most of which were co-authored. His most successful book, '' The One Minute Manager'', has sol ...

, though each author has added their own books to the series. Johnson's last book, ''Out of the Maze'', is a sequel to ''Who Moved My Cheese'' that references Johnson's struggle with cancer (which ultimately ended with his death in 2017) and was published posthumously in 2018. Johnson's books have been translated into twenty-six languages.

Bibliography

* ''The ValueTale of Elizabeth Fry: the value of kindness'' (La Jolla, California: Value Communications, 1975) * ''The ValueTale of the

Wright brothers The Wright brothers, Orville Wright (August 19, 1871 – January 30, 1948) and Wilbur Wright (April 16, 1867 – May 30, 1912), were American aviation List of aviation pioneers, pioneers generally credited with inventing, building, and flyin ...

: the value of patience'' (La Jolla, California: Value Communications, 1975) * ''The Valuetale of

Louis Pasteur Louis Pasteur (, ; 27 December 1822 – 28 September 1895) was a French chemist, pharmacist, and microbiologist renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, Fermentation, microbial fermentation, and pasteurization, the la ...

: the value of believing in yourself'' (La Jolla, California: Value Communications, 1975) * ''The value of believing in yourself: the story of Louis Pasteur'' (La Jolla, California: Value Communications, 1976) * ''The value of patience: the story of the Wright brothers'' (La Jolla, California: Value Communications, 1976) * ''The value of humor: the story of

Will Rogers William Penn Adair Rogers (November 4, 1879 – August 15, 1935) was an American vaudeville performer, actor, and humorous social commentator. He was born as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, in the Indian Territory (now part of Oklahoma ...

'' (La Jolla, California: Value Communications, 1976) * ''The value of kindness: the story of Elizabeth Fry'' (La Jolla, California: Value Communications, 1976) * ''The value of imagination: the story of

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

'' (La Jolla, California: Value Communications, 1977) * ''The value of courage: the story of

Jackie Robinson Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was an American professional baseball player who became the first Black American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the Baseball color line, ...

'' (La Jolla, California: Value Communications, 1977) * ''The value of curiosity: the story of

Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus (; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed Voyages of Christopher Columbus, four Spanish-based voyages across the At ...

'' (La Jolla, California: Value Communications, 1977) * ''The value of saving: the story of

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...

'' (La Jolla, California: Value Communications, 1978) * ''The value of sharing: the story of the Mayo brothers'' (La Jolla, California: Value Communications, 1978) * ''The value of understanding: the story of

Margaret Mead Margaret Mead (December 16, 1901 – November 15, 1978) was an American cultural anthropologist, author and speaker, who appeared frequently in the mass media during the 1960s and the 1970s. She earned her bachelor's degree at Barnard Col ...

'' (La Jolla, California: Value Communications, 1979) * ''The value of dedication: the story of

Albert Schweitzer Ludwig Philipp Albert Schweitzer (; 14 January 1875 – 4 September 1965) was a German and French polymath from Alsace. He was a theologian, organist, musicologist, writer, humanitarian, philosopher, and physician. As a Lutheran minister, ...

'' (La Jolla, California: Value Communications, 1979) * ''The value of fairness: the tale of

Nellie Bly Elizabeth Cochrane Seaman (born Elizabeth Jane Cochran; May 5, 1864 – January 27, 1922), better known by her pen name Nellie Bly, was an American journalist who was widely known for her record-breaking circumnavigation, trip around the world ...

'' (with Ann Donegan Johnson, Emerson Johnson and Steve Pileggi) (Orem, Utah: ValueTales Publishing, 2007) * ''The value of fantasy: the story of

Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogue (literature), travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales. Andersen's fai ...

'' (La Jolla, California: Value Communications, 1979) * ''The value of honesty: the story of

Confucius Confucius (; pinyin: ; ; ), born Kong Qiu (), was a Chinese philosopher of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. Much of the shared cultural heritage of the Sinosphere originates in the phil ...

'' (La Jolla, California: Value Communications, 1979) * '' The One Minute Manager''(with Ken Blanchard,

William Morrow & Co William Morrow and Company is an American publishing company founded by William Morrow in 1926. The company was acquired by Scott Foresman in 1967, sold to Hearst Corporation in 1981, and sold to News Corporation (now News Corp) in 1999. The c ...

, 1982) * ''The One Minute Father: the quickest way for you to help your children learn to like themselves and want to behave themselves'' (New York: W. Morrow, 1983) * ''The One Minute Mother: the quickest way for you to help your children learn to like themselves and want to behave themselves'' (New York: Morrow, 1983) * ''The Precious Present'' (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1984) * ''The One Minute $ales Person: The Quickest Way to Sell People on Yourself, Your Services, Products, or Ideas--at Work and in Life'' (New York: W. Morrow, 1984) * ''One Minute for Myself'' (New York: W. Morrow, 1985) etitled ''One Minute for Yourself''* ''The One Minute Teacher: How to Teach Others to Teach Themselves'' (with Constance Johnson) (New York: W. Morrow, 1986) * ''"Yes" or "No": The Guide to Better Decisions'' (New York, NY:

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

Publishers, 1992) * ''Who Moved My Cheese?: An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life'' (New York, Putnam, 1998) * ''The Cheese Experience: an amazing way to deal with change in your work and in your life ... presenters handbook to direct people through the maze'' (with Spencer Johnson Company. (Salt Lake City, Utah: Spencer Johnson Co., 1999) * ''An A-mazing Change Profile: discovering who you are and how you can enjoy more success with less stress in changing times'' (Salt Lake City, Utah: Spencer Johnson Co., 2000) * ''Paradoxical Commandments: finding personal meaning in a crazy world'' (with Kent M. Keith) (London:

Hodder & Stoughton Hodder & Stoughton is a British publishing house, now an imprint of Hachette.H ...

, 2002) * ''Who Moved My Cheese? For Teens: an a-mazing way to change and win!'' (New York:

G.P. Putnam's Sons G. P. Putnam's Sons is an American book publisher based in New York City, New York (state), New York. Since 1996, it has been an Imprint (trade name), imprint of the Penguin Group. History The company began as Wiley & Putnam with the 1838 part ...

, 2002) * '' The Present: The Secret to Enjoying Your Work And Life, Now!'' (New York, Doubleday, 2003) * ''The Value of Learning: the tale of

Marie Curie Maria Salomea Skłodowska-Curie (; ; 7 November 1867 – 4 July 1934), known simply as Marie Curie ( ; ), was a Polish and naturalised-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. She was List of female ...

'' (with Ann Donegan Johnson) (Orem, Utah: Candle Publishing, 2007) * ''The Value of Friendship: the tale of

Jane Addams Laura Jane Addams (September 6, 1860May 21, 1935) was an American Settlement movement, settlement activist, Social reform, reformer, social worker, sociologist, public administrator, philosopher, and author. She was a leader in the history of s ...

'' (with Ann Donegan Johnson) (Orem, Utah: Candle Publishing, 2007) * ''The Value of Helping: the tale of

Harriet Tubman Harriet Tubman (born Araminta Ross, – March 10, 1913) was an American abolitionist and social activist. After escaping slavery, Tubman made some 13 missions to rescue approximately 70 enslaved people, including her family and friends, us ...

'' (with Ann Donegan Johnson) (Orem, Utah: Candle Publishing, 2007) * ''The Value of Respect: the tale of

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

'' (with Ann Donegan Johnson) (Orem, Utah: Candle Publishing, 2007) * ''Peaks and Valleys: Making Good And Bad Times Work For You--At Work And In Life'' (New York:

Atria Books Atria may refer to: Science *Atrium (heart) (plural: atria), an anatomical structure of the heart *Atria (genus), a flatworm genus in the family Dendrocoelidae * Atria (star) or Alpha Trianguli Australis, a star in the constellation Triangulum Aus ...

, 2009)

References

External links

whomovedmycheese.com
- Johnson's main website {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Spencer (Writer) 1938 births 2017 deaths American self-help writers American motivational writers People from Mitchell, South Dakota University of Southern California alumni Writers from South Dakota Alumni of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland

Biography

Notable works

See also

Bibliography

References

External links