John Robert Johnson was born in Manhattan Beach, California in 1947 and spent much of his early life playing and working in the Pacific Ocean. After graduating from high school, he attended the University of California at Santa Barbara, and worked a beach lifeguard for Los Angeles County to help with his college expenses. While he studied Physical Anthropology, Art History and English, his real interest was visual communications. After earning his degree at UCSB, and a stint in the military at Ft. Ord, California, he enrolled at the prestigious Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles, and began focusing on a career in advertising. Graduating in 1973, he became an art director and writer at several high-profile west coast advertising agencies, and was ultimately appointed executive creative director at a Los Angeles firm in 1992. In 1997, having grown weary of the daily grind and horrific freeway commutes, he decided to pursue his passion to write and tell thought-provoking stories which push the boundaries of the imagination. "Purusha's Urn" marks his first effort as a novelist. He currently resides in Encino Hills, a suburb of Los Angeles, with his wife and daughter.

Biography provided by the author, November 2008.