Peaks and Valleys

Patrick Spencer Johnson was born in Watertown, South Dakota on November 24, 1938. He received a bachelor's degree in psychology at the University of Southern California and then graduated from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. While working in a hospital, he grew frustrated at seeing the same patients return with the same ailments, as if they were not trying to get better. He left the hospital to work as director of communications for Medtronic, a medical device manufacturer. He wrote short books to help customers understand complicated technical information.

He went on to write short books about life and business including The One Minute Manager written with Ken Blanchard, The Precious Present, and Who Moved My Cheese? He died from complications of pancreatic cancer on July 3, 2017 at the age of 78.

030