Back in 2009 Ivan Johnson declared to the world that Davis will one day become Prime Minister of the Bahamas! THIS IS POWERFUL!
NASSAU| Bahamas Press is reporting with sadness the passing of a great publisher, editor and friend, Ivan Johnson of the “MIGHTY PUNCH”.
Johnson was founder and editor of The Punch, a controversial Bahamian tabloid newspaper, which also offers other genre of media, including hard news, politics, religion, commentary, features, Government notices and private advertising.
“The country has lost another successful businessman with much institutional memory and history of the Bahamas, the Caribbean and the world. He was a tiger in the field of journalism with captivating provocative headlines which shook the country for days,” one writer told BP.
Ivan Nicholas Johnson was born on June 27, 1953 in Nassau, Bahamas. He was educated at Queen’s College in Nassau and at the Seaford Court Preparatory School at Malvern Link, Worcestershire. His high school education was completed at Malvern College, where he took O and A levels in English literature and Spanish. He later studied Spanish during a summer break at the University of Valladolid.
Johnson is also a former professional, all-rounder, English first-class cricketer, who played for Worcestershire County Cricket Club with other world leaders from 1972 to 1975. From 1972, during the English county cricket offseason winter months, Johnson was employed as a trainee reporter at The Tribune newspaper in Nassau.
In October 1975 Johnson became a trainee journalist with Thomson Newspapers, owned by Lord Thomson of Fleet. He worked at the Hemel Hempstead Evening Post-Echo and studied at the Harlow College of Journalism in Essex. This training was followed by one year’s cadetship at Reuters.
Johnson returned to Nassau in 1976. At The Tribune, two chief reporters had quit without warning. Johnson agreed to act as the newspaper’s chief reporter up to the 1977 general election.
In 1985, Johnson was seconded to Australia and worked as a sub-editor at The Daily Mirror (Australia), The Townsville Bulletin and The Sunday Times (Western Australia). In 1987, Johnson again returned to London. He worked as a freelance sub-editor for the London Sun, News of the World and The Sunday Times before gaining employment as a staff sub-editor at the Daily Star.
In August 1989, Johnson returned to Nassau and in February 1990, began his own tabloid format newspaper titled The Punch; its office located on Farrington Road in Oakes Field.
In 1992, on the morning of election day, The Punch ran a headline predicting the Free National Movement win over Progressive Liberal Party by 32 seats to 17. The tabloid was hence called The Prophet Punch.
Johnson’s last true prophecy came in 2009 when Philip Brave Davis Q.C. ran for deputy leader of the PLP. Johnson, who often had nothing good to say about the PLP, by the end of that classic campaign declared to the world that Philip Edward Brave Davis was the future for the PLP to secure the sovereignty of the nation and that one day he will come Prime Minister, officially endorsing him for the leadership of the Party. THIS IS POWERFUL!
To family, colleagues, and many many friend in the Bahamas and around the world, we at BP say farewell to a great friend in the business of media.
May his soul rest in peace.
