Author Ellen Rendle hosted a presentation on baseball Hall-of-Famer Judy Johnson in Dover on Saturday and the experience was superb. Rendle’s book, titled “Judy Johnson: Delaware’s Invisible Hero,” is a very nice account of the life of the former Negro League great. As a baseball history buff, I already knew quite a bit about Johnson’s baseball career and that he had lived in Wilmington and also that he was a baseball scout for many years after his playing days were over. However, what I learned on Saturday was “the rest of the story.”
Rendle spoke more about Judy Johnson the man than she did of the baseball player and what I learned, was that Johnson was as much of a great man as he was a great baseball player! Words like kindness, gentleman, smart, and wonderful were used quite often to describe Johnson during her appearance. After Rendle’s presentation was complete, she asked members of the audience to come forward with any Judy Johnson memories that they might like to share, and boy did they. Many of the attendees on Saturday were lifelong friends of Johnson’s and their stories of his gentle demeanor and many acts of kindness flowed from them as easy as water over a dam.
Judy Johnson most certainly was a rare individual. As I sat there listening to his life’s journey and the many first-hand accounts of his kindness and love for not only baseball, but for everyone he came in contact with; I learned what a great man this “Invisible Hero” had been. After the event was over on Saturday, almost everyone mingled around the room talking about what they knew about Judy Johnson, along with a few telling additional stories of how their own lives were enriched by knowing him.
If someone had walked into that room not knowing what the event was, they could have easily mistaken it for a family event of some sort. You could feel the kindness and wonderful fellowship radiating around a group of people brought together by a common interest. Folks - I couldn’t have spent my Saturday morning at many places and walked away with the feeling that I left that event with. There is no question that Judy Johnson was a great baseball player. The same can be said about him as a man.
But for me, Judy Johnson will no longer be an “Invisible Hero”. As I walked out the door, I looked back at the people still inside and thought “Judy is still spreading his love around”.
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