Sally West Johnson was a journalist’s journalist. She was a fixture of the Vermont news landscape for more than 30 years, and she had the skills, expertise and insight that are a rarity now in newspapering.
Sally knew how to observe situations and people with acuity, how to ask probing questions and how to write a flawless, insightful story on deadline. Though she had a great sense of humor, in her dealings with editors and reporters she had a reputation for never mincing words. A compliment from Sally was no trivial affair.
Over the course of her long career, her work appeared in The Burlington Free Press, The New York Times, Boston Globe and Seven Days. She was the editor of Vermont Magazine and the Vermont Sunday Magazine published by The Rutland Herald and Times Argus.
Sally’s milieu was print, and yet she was an early adopter of Vtdigger.org. She became a reader last year, shortly after we launched, and then over the last six months, to my delight, Sally offered to write pieces for us. She gave us reprints of stories and even willingly went into wire reporter mode to crank out topical stories on the dairy industry.
She wrote a profile of Sen. Peter Shumlin that illustrated how his personal drive and political ambition shaped his career in the Legislature. She spent several days on the trail with him, driving from one end of the state to the other as he campaigned, to make sure she really understood who he was. Her description of Shumlin wading through a snowstorm in the Appalachian Gap to get to a house party in Lincoln said a lot about the senator – and even more about Sally’s keen ear and ability to elicit the telling details of a person’s life.
When I last saw her in June at the Vermont Chamber Expo forum, she had a glint in her blue eyes as we talked about the primaries. We shared tidbits about the candidates like a pair of bookies trading stories before a horse race.
I first met Sally in 1999 in the offices of Seven Days. She was the Vermont Sunday Magazine editor back then, and she was looking for magazine-length narrative or investigative stories. I had never written a complex story of significant length, and I didn’t have a clue about how to go about it. But I sent her a pitch, and she gave me a chance to write an in-depth analysis of special education services in Vermont.
Sally ran the article, and it was that story that gave me the confidence to take my work as a reporter seriously. I didn’t know, however, that this was just about the time she began the long fight for her life.
Sally died on Sept. 8 from complications related to Hepatitis C. She battled the disease for 12 years and endured two liver transplants.
The last time I heard from her was shortly before she had surgery in August. She sent an e-mail via iPhone from the hospital. She was worried about fulfilling an assignment.
Sally was a committed journalist to the end. I miss her courage, intellect and curiosity.
Her obituary, written by her husband, Steve Terry, and her son, Will, follows:
Sally West Johnson of Middlebury, a well-known Vermont editor and freelance writer, as well as avid horsewoman and world traveler, died Wednesday night after waging a 12- year long and valiant battle with liver disease. She was 60.
Sally combined a life of writing and reporting, gardening, caring for her horses, and a constant itch for travel. In fact, Sally, always with her blue eyes sparkling and an infectious smile, had planned shortly before her death a return trip in November to India.
She is survived by her husband, Steve Terry of Middlebury, and their 25-year old son, Will, of Middlebury and Washington, DC.
Sally was born in Bryn Mawr, Pa., on Aug. 21, 1950, and moved at an early age with her parents, Leight and Shirley Johnson, to Parkville, Md., where she grew up and began her life-long interest in journalism and horses.After high school, Sally returned to Vermont, where her family often came for ski vacations, to attend Middlebury College, where she graduated in 1972 with a degree in American Literature.
After Middlebury, Sally taught school for a year in Calcutta, India, before moving to New York City to work for the Associated Press on the radio desk, as well as holding a part-time copy editor position at Newsweek.
In 1979, Sally moved back to Vermont to Middlebury, where she worked as a freelance writer for the Burlington Free Press while taking science courses at the University of Vermont.
She was planning to return to New York City, but en route stopped at the Rutland Herald in 1980 and was hired as an editor. She never left Middlebury and continued for nearly 20 years at the Herald, ending her career there as Editor of the Vermont Sunday Magazine. After leaving the Rutland Herald, Sally became editor of Vermont Magazine, a statewide magazine then based in Middlebury. She was also a freelance writer for more than a decade, reporting on Vermont and other matters for the New York Times and the Boston Globe. Recently she had freelance stories published by Seven Days and Vt.Digger.org. She was also a frequent contributor to the Middlebury College Alumni Magazine.
It was during this time, March 1999, that Sally authored a personal story for the Boston Globe Sunday Magazine on her battle with liver disease as a result of having contracted Hepatitis C in the late 1960s. She did not become aware of the dormant disease in her body until 1998, and then spent the next 12 years fighting it.
This battle resulted in long spells of treatment therapies as well as two liver transplants; one in 2006 and a second in 2008 at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City. For both surgeries Sally spent long stays in a hospital bed looking out at the George Washington Bridge traversing the Hudson River.
She vowed in the Boston Globe Magazine story in 1999 that until her last breath she would “live as much as possible in the moment,” and that “the disease may be part of my life, but it is not my whole life, and it never will be.”
In 2002 and 2004, Sally was the co-author of the Explorer’s Guide for Vermont, a travel book published by Countryman Press. This assignment resulted in long weekends travelling throughout the state sampling country inns and scenic drives, which she greatly enjoyed with her husband, Steve.
Her other life revolved around her community, as a board member of the John Graham Shelter for the Homeless, and of Middlebury Community Television, as well as a former board member of the Addison County Parent-Child Center.
While her joy was writing and reporting, Sally’s passion was the Vermont horse world, which she shared with her son, Will. She and Will enjoyed many summer weekends together on the polo field as players. She served as President of the Sugarbush Polo Club for the last six years, resulting in countless hours planning and scheduling polo events. Even while hospitalized she continued directing the care of her horses.
Sally also enjoyed travelling, with trips to India, Russia, Australia, Greece, Argentina, Central America, as well as most of the Western European countries, including many trips to France with Steve and Will.
Sally’s wide experiences, great intellect and strong personality informed the insights she brought to her writing and community involvement. Her colleagues, friends and family always appreciated her fresh and honest opinions.
In addition to her husband, son and parents, she is survived by three siblings: Peter Johnson of Baltimore, Md., Chris Johnson and his wife, Dr. Maureen Harmon of Shelburne, Vt., and Timothy and Niqui Johnson of Frederick, Md. A brother, Leight Johnson Jr. was killed by a drunk driver in 1979 while responding to a highway call as an emergency medical technician.
The family will hold memorial service for Sally in early October.
Contributions in her memory may be made to either the John Graham Shelter for the Homeless in Vergennes, Vt., 05491 or the Spring Hill Horse Rescue 175 Middle Rd., Clarendon, Vt, 05759.
