Wikipedia

Kirk W. Johnson

Kirk Wallace Johnson is an American author, screenwriter, and founder of the List Project,[1] a not-for-profit organization that resettled Iraqi refugees who previously worked for the U.S. government during the Iraq War.[2][3][4]

Kirk Wallace Johnson
Johnson in a gray sweater and crossing his arms.
Photo by Marie-Josée Cantin Johnson
Born
West Chicago, Illinois
OccupationAuthor, Screenwriter
Alma materUniversity of Chicago (2002)
Genrenon-fiction
Notable worksThe Feather Thief, The Fishermen and the Dragon, To Be a Friend is Fatal
SpouseMarie-Josée Cantin Johnson
Children2
Website
kirkwjohnson.com

Early life

edit

Johnson was born in West Chicago, Illinois.[5] He served as the U.S. Agency for International Development first coordinator for reconstruction in Fallujah, Iraq in 2005.[6][7][5]

List Project

edit

Johnson was opposed to the Iraq War but felt an ethical obligation to help with the reconstruction efforts, which he supported as a way of righting a wrong. After returning from Iraq with PTSD,[8][9] he was contacted by his former Iraqi colleagues, who were running for their lives as a result of working for the U.S. Government during the war. In December 2006, he wrote an op-ed for the Los Angeles Times calling upon the government to open its doors to these allies. In response, he was flooded with petitions from thousands of refugees, leading him to found the List Project to Resettle Iraqi Allies, a non-profit that marshaled hundreds of attorneys from the nation's top law firms to represent their cases on a pro bono basis.[10]

Johnson and the List Project were the subjects of the 2012 documentary film The List, directed and produced by Beth Murphy.[11][12]

Literary career

edit

After returning from Iraq, Johnson began fly-fishing, which led him to the story that would become his true crime book, The Feather Thief.[13][14][15] The story is about how an American flutist, Edwin Rist stole remains of rare birds from the Natural History Museum in England.[16] Hobbyists pay high prices for the feathers of exotic birds, including fly-fishers, who use them to catch fish.[17] He learned of the heist when a guide from New Mexico told the story, leading to a five-year period of research and interviews, including with Rist.[18] The Feather Thief made numerous lists, including Oprah Winfrey's 20 Best True Crime Books of All Time,[19] Outside's Books that Shaped the Last Decade,[20] and Good Housekeeping's 25 Best True Crime Books of All Time.[21] Additionally, it was listed as one of the best books of 2018 by BuzzFeed News,[22] Popular Mechanics,[23] Forbes,[24] Mental Floss,[25] the American Birding Association,[26] BookPage,[27] and BookRiot.[28]

The Fishermen and the Dragon won the Carr P. Collins Award for Best Book of Nonfiction,[29] the Friends of American Writers 2023 Literature Award,[30] and was the selection for the 2023 Gulf Coast Reads Program.[31] It was listed as one of the best books of 2022 by The Texas Observer'[32] and the New York Public Library.[33]

Screenwriting career

edit

Johnson is adapting The Feather Thief into a television series with Universal International Studios and Jenna Bush Hager.[34][35] Last Flight, a feature about an Afghan man trying to escape Afghanistan with the help of Johnson, is currently in development with Babak Anvari directing and Benedict Cumberbatch starring as Johnson.[36] The rights to The Fishermen and the Dragon were sold to George Clooney's production company for a multi-part series.[37]

Anthropic AI lawsuit

edit

In 2024, Johnson was one of three lead plaintiffs (with Andrea Bartz and Charles Graeber) to bring what became the largest class action lawsuit for IP infringement in U.S. history on behalf of tens of thousands of authors whose works were pirated by Anthropic AI in the development of their LLMs.[38] The subsequent settlement of $1.5B is the largest recovery in the history of U.S. copyright cases.[39]

Bibliography

edit

References

edit
  1. ↑ Félix, Doreen St. (June 20, 2018). "What We're Reading This Summer". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on August 7, 2022. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
  2. ↑ Hammer, Joshua (June 1, 2018). "The Man Who Stole Bird Feathers". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on August 7, 2022. Retrieved August 6, 2022.
  3. ↑ Kistler, Florian; Gennies, Sidney; Schäuble, Julianne (August 18, 2021). "'Das ist ein Schlag ins Gesicht': Der Zorn der Afghanistan-Veteranen" ['This is a slap in the face': The anger of Afghanistan veterans]. Der Tagesspiegel (in German). Archived from the original on July 3, 2022. Retrieved August 6, 2022.
  4. ↑ Critics: U.S. Govt. Should Have Moved Faster to Get Afghan Allies Out (Television broadcast). CNN. August 16, 2021.
  5. 1 2 Al-Shawaf, Rayyan (September 13, 2013). "'To Be a Friend Is Fatal' by Kirk W. Johnson – The Boston Globe". Boston Globe. Archived from the original on August 6, 2022. Retrieved August 5, 2022.
  6. ↑ Tavernise, Sabrina; Worth, Robert F. (February 1, 2007). "Escaping Chaos in the Middle East: Few Iraqis Are Gaining US Sanctuary". Der Spiegel. ISSN 2195-1349. Retrieved August 6, 2022. ...Kirk W. Johnson, who worked for the United States Agency for International Development in Falluja in 2005.
  7. ↑ Szoldra, Paul (June 26, 2014). "Some Of The Bravest People I've Ever Known Are Being Abandoned In Iraq And Afghanistan". Business Insider. Archived from the original on August 6, 2022. Retrieved August 5, 2022. ...Kirk W. Johnson, a former reconstruction coordinator in Iraq, the founder of the List Project to Resettle Iraqi Allies, and the author of...
  8. ↑ Paul, Ellen (March 28, 2018). "The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century". The Auk. 135 (2). doi:10.1642/AUK-18-8.1.
  9. ↑ Kemp, Christopher (May 4, 2018). "Irreplaceable avian specimens, ransacked". Science. 360 (6388): 500. Bibcode:2018Sci...360..500K. doi:10.1126/science.aas9050. ISSN 0036-8075. S2CID 195010917. Archived from the original on August 7, 2022. Retrieved August 6, 2022.
  10. ↑ Long, Karen R. (November 7, 2013). "Author Kirk W. Johnson On The Fight To Help Iraqi Allies Left Behind". Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards. Archived from the original on August 6, 2022. Retrieved August 6, 2022.
  11. ↑ Rothe, E. Nina (May 1, 2012). "Beth Murphy's The List at Tribeca: Out Beyond Ideas of Wrong Doing". HuffPost. Archived from the original on July 10, 2024. Retrieved June 13, 2026.
  12. ↑ "Meet the 2012 Tribeca Filmmakers #34: Beth Murphy, 'The List'". IndieWire. April 18, 2012. Retrieved June 13, 2026.
  13. ↑ Lay, Jennie; Damerville, Alesha (June 10, 2019). "Meet Kirk Wallace Johnson, author of 'The Feather Thief'". Steamboat Magazine. Steamboat Springs. Archived from the original on August 7, 2022. Retrieved August 6, 2022.
  14. ↑ Ben-Asher, Julia (June 25, 2019). "Meet 'The Feather Thief' Author Kirk Wallace Johnson, True Crime Writer". Steamboat Pilot. Archived from the original on December 9, 2022. Retrieved August 6, 2022.
  15. ↑ "Book review: The Feather Thief, by Kirk Wallace Johnson". The Scotsman. May 10, 2018. Archived from the original on August 7, 2022. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
  16. ↑ Nolan, Tom (April 20, 2018). "'The Feather Thief' Review: A Fuss Over Feathers". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Archived from the original on August 7, 2022. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
  17. ↑ Williamson, Jesse (April 25, 2018). "An Ornithologist Reads 'The Feather Thief'". Outside Online. Archived from the original on August 7, 2022. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
  18. ↑ Gawrylewski, Andrea (May 1, 2018). "Debunking Animal Myths, the Truth about Time and Other New Science Books". Scientific American. Archived from the original on November 29, 2022. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
  19. ↑ "29 True Crime Books That'll Make You Want to Sleep with the Lights On". Oprah Daily. August 28, 2024. Archived from the original on October 12, 2025. Retrieved June 13, 2026.
  20. ↑ Salabert, Shawnté (December 25, 2019). "These Books Changed the Outdoor World This Decade". Outside. Archived from the original on January 31, 2023. Retrieved June 13, 2026.
  21. ↑ "25 Iconic True Crime Books to Unleash Your Inner Sherlock". Good Housekeeping. March 1, 2021. Archived from the original on May 25, 2026. Retrieved June 13, 2026.
  22. ↑ Rebolini, Arianna (December 16, 2018). "The Best Books From 2018 For Every Kind Of Reader". BuzzFeed News. Archived from the original on February 7, 2026. Retrieved June 13, 2026.
  23. ↑ "The Best Sci/Tech Books of 2018". Popular Mechanics. December 25, 2018. Archived from the original on July 21, 2025. Retrieved June 13, 2026.
  24. ↑ GrrlScientist. "Twelve Of The Best Books About Birds And Birding Of 2018". Forbes. Archived from the original on January 29, 2026. Retrieved June 13, 2026.
  25. ↑ "Mental Floss's 56 Best Books of 2018". Mental Floss. December 5, 2018. Archived from the original on August 11, 2025. Retrieved June 13, 2026.
  26. ↑ Swick, Nate (November 29, 2018). "American Birding Podcast: Best Bird Books of 2018 with Donna Schulman". ABA Blog. Archived from the original on November 16, 2025. Retrieved June 13, 2026.
  27. ↑ "Best Books of 2018: Fiction & Nonfiction". BookPage | Discover your next great book!. November 7, 2018. Archived from the original on February 27, 2026. Retrieved June 13, 2026.
  28. ↑ Hardy, Liberty (December 18, 2018). "Favorite Books of 2018, Part 2". BOOK RIOT. Archived from the original on February 24, 2026. Retrieved June 13, 2026.
  29. ↑ "TEXAS INSTITUTE OF LETTERS ANNOUNCES WINNERS OF 2023 LITERARY AWARDS" (PDF). Texas Institute of Letters. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 12, 2023. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
  30. ↑ "Friends of American Writers Chicago Literature Awards". www.fawchicago.org. Archived from the original on October 18, 2025. Retrieved June 13, 2026.
  31. ↑ "2023 | Gulf Coast Reads". gulfcoastreads.org. Archived from the original on December 7, 2025. Retrieved June 13, 2026.
  32. ↑ Olsen, Lise (December 26, 2022). "Last Dance with Ann Richards: Best Texas Books of 2022". The Texas Observer. Retrieved June 13, 2026.
  33. ↑ "Best Books of 2022". www.nypl.org. Archived from the original on November 24, 2025. Retrieved June 13, 2026.
  34. ↑ Petski, Denise (July 28, 2022). "Jenna Bush Hager Developing 'The Feather Thief' Series Adaptation With Universal International Studios". Deadline. Archived from the original on August 7, 2022. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
  35. ↑ McCarty, India (August 2, 2022). "Jenna Bush Hager Has Exciting Career News Outside Of 'Today' Gig". Suggest. Quillt. Archived from the original on August 2, 2022. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
  36. ↑ Wiseman, Andreas (February 3, 2026). "Benedict Cumberbatch To Star In Thriller 'Last Flight'; Protagonist Launching For EFM". Deadline. Archived from the original on February 4, 2026. Retrieved June 13, 2026.
  37. ↑ King, Rachel (June 26, 2022). "22 new books coming out during the second half of 2022". Lifestyle. Fortune. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
  38. ↑ Belanger, Ashley (August 8, 2025). "AI industry horrified to face largest copyright class action ever certified". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on November 13, 2025. Retrieved June 13, 2026.
  39. ↑ Metz, Cade (September 5, 2025). "Anthropic Agrees to Pay $1.5 Billion to Settle Lawsuit With Book Authors". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on September 6, 2025. Retrieved June 13, 2026.
  40. ↑ Kakutani, Michiko (August 20, 2014). "In Iraq, Dread Is in the Air". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on August 6, 2022. Retrieved August 5, 2022. ...embodies the plight of many Iraqis described in Kirk W. Johnson's devastating 2013 book, 'To Be a Friend Is Fatal'...
  41. ↑ Arreola, Cristina (August 8, 2018). "3 Nonfiction Books About Scams, Schemes, And Heists That Prove 'Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction'". Bustle. Archived from the original on August 14, 2018. Retrieved August 6, 2022.
edit
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kirk_W._Johnson&oldid=1359236248"