)Whatever else Johnson was up to in the 1930s, he says that he drifted to San Diego for a time--there's no record of this, but also no reason to disbelieve him--and, while there, started writing for Weird Tales again, producing a letter for the May 1939 issue and three stories, "Lupa," "Silver Coffin," and "Far Below." Lupa included a nude scene in hopes that it would make the cover--Weird Tales's covers at the time featured nudes. Apparently, it was acceptable to finesse a nude scene into a story for Weird Tales, by Johnson's reckoning, but not so much for Terror Tales. "Far Below" was an homage to H.P. Lovecraft, was once named as the best story printed in Weird Tales and was widely anthologized. ("The Silver Coffin" was also anthologized.)
That ended Johnson's association with Weird Tales (but not weird tales), with "Lupa" appearing in January 1941 (by which time Farnsworth Wright was no longer editor, part of a series of cost-cutting measures that also led to a decline in quality).
In 1940, he published his The Magic Park, about the Golden Gate Park.
He was drafted into the US Army as a private on 6 November 1942 (Serial Number: 39112693). According to his enlistment record, he was back in San Francisco at the time and gave his birthdate as 1905--making him 37 rather than his (actual?) 35. If it wasn't a mistake, why he would give a wrong age is not clear. It's also unknown what he did in the military.
That ended Johnson's association with Weird Tales (but not weird tales), with "Lupa" appearing in January 1941 (by which time Farnsworth Wright was no longer editor, part of a series of cost-cutting measures that also led to a decline in quality).
In 1940, he published his The Magic Park, about the Golden Gate Park.
He was drafted into the US Army as a private on 6 November 1942 (Serial Number: 39112693). According to his enlistment record, he was back in San Francisco at the time and gave his birthdate as 1905--making him 37 rather than his (actual?) 35. If it wasn't a mistake, why he would give a wrong age is not clear. It's also unknown what he did in the military.
