A smiling elderly woman with white curly hair, glasses, and earrings standing outdoors among yellow flowers, wearing a light blue top with floral embroidery, against a background of a blue sky and trees.

Jodi Johnson:

Author, Storyteller, Traveller, Trauma Resolution Therapist

Jodi Marie Johnson’s family has lived in Arizona  for seven generations. She lives and writes from a western spirit.  Jodi grew up exploring the deserts, mountains, canyons and creeks of her beloved Arizona.

She has traveled around the world exploring native cultures,  foods and wild places, yet she returns always to the  light-drenched Southwest she calls home.

Jodi actively volunteers in underserved communities and supports conservation of the natural ecosystems of the West; she also teaches, provides healing, studies and writes from her native Arizona.  

She brings her love of old places and things, cooking and sharing with her family and friends to her storytelling. 

“What is writing but an expression of my own life?” — Zane Grey

Jodi’s latest book:

Back Roads, Dead Cats & What’s for Dinner

SECOND EDITION COMING SOON

Travel back in time along the old Arizona and New Mexico railways and highways. Adventure into times of good food, hair-raising tales and grand misadventures.

Here are long-ago stories, pictures and recipes from a most unusual family. Feed your hunger and your love for the American Southwest.

Celebrate your own family’s history, food and journeys with engaging and informative activities to be found in the Second Edition’s new addendum.

What people are saying…

“In a modern world that seems so often to be cold and flavorless, ‘Back Roads, Dead Cats and What’s for Dinner’ is a plentiful serving of scrumptious warmth.”

–Mary Sojourner, author of Going through Ghosts, Bonelight and NPR commentator

“... a tapestry of Arizona days we all long for. Her stories are woven with a blend of spirit, at once pioneering and precocious, that transcends local history and folklore.”

–Charles Seiverd, Publisher, The Noise, Arts and News Magazine


A colorful postage stamp featuring a desert landscape with rock formations, a cactus, and a pink flower, with text that reads 'Greetings from Arizona' and a value of 34 cents.