Leslie Johnson & The Mississippi Rag, a Worthy Legacy

A few weeks ago, while looking up something else entirely, I happened to find a photo online of Leslie Johnson, who for 35 years published The Mississippi Rag. I was moved to see an image of the person who did successfully what I’m attempting to do now, but for much of that time without the digital shortcuts on which I rely so heavily. I have a vague idea of what is entailed in a computer-free layout, having watched my father publish a local franchise of a TV weekly in the late 1970s. To create a monthly jazz newspaper that stands as a reference work even today using layout methods that Ben Franklin and Sam Clemens would not have found incomprehensible is almost incomprehensible to me. Johnson, who had a degree in Journalism from the University of Minnesota, got involved with the traditional jazz scene in the Twin Cities, then centered around The Emporium of Jazz in Mendota, Minnesota. Her husband at the time, Dennis Johnson suggested she start a publication to tell the stories of the musicians and fans that weren’t being told elsewhere. The Mississippi Rag debuted in November 1973 with a profile of Max Morath. It was the first full-fledged traditional jazz publication that was more than a fanzine or a newsletter, and in time its influence was international. Leslie Johnson, publisher of The Mississippi Rag (photo