Jerry Earl Johnston won a writing competition in first grade and has never kicked the habit. He has been with the Deseret News for more than thirty years and currently writes a weekly column. He has won awards from The Reader’s Digest and the Society of Professional Journalists and is a two-time winner of the national Wilbur Award for religious columns. The Deseret News has honored him twice with the Mark E. Petersen Excellence in Writing Award.

He and his wife, Carol, have a blended family of five children and fifteen grandchildren. They live in Brigham City, where Jerry serves in the bishopric of the Brigham City Fifth Ward.