I was born in St. Louis, Missouri. Now, in my sixties, I live happily in Scottsdale, Arizona, among the saguaros and palm trees.

Since retiring in 2014 from corporate life, I've authored six books to pay tribute to vivid people and memories from my experiences in North Carolina, Missouri, Illinois and Arizona.

From Fertile Ground, my first book, is a three-generation memoir and writer's mosaic that explores the importance of family and desire we each have to create our own path.
My second book, Tales of a Rollercoaster Operator, features up-and-down stories from my Missouri childhood. The St. Louis History Museum selected both books (published in 2016 and 2017) for its collection devoted to LGBTQ history in the Midwest.

In 2018, I published An Unobstructed View. It chronicles a year of surprise, perseverance, and transformation following a personal detour during my move from Illinois to Arizona.

Published in 2021, my fourth book--I Think I'll Prune the Lemon Tree--is an anthology of thirty-nine serendipitous and humorous essays set against the warm and rugged landscape of Arizona's Sonoran Desert.

A Path I Might Have Missed, published in 2023, is poetry I wrote over thirty years, exploring love, loss, pain, discovery, truth, and transformation—spun through the wonder of words and influences of nature.

My sixth book, Sixty-Something Days, is a memoir tapestry of essays, poems, and flashes of fiction, which I published in November 2025. It is a call-to-action to stay creative and relevant in our later years, while contributing our hard-earned wisdom.

To learn more about my books, and follow my blog, go to www.markjohnsonstories.com.