Prep Talk

Nelson Johnson, Superior Court Judge and Author of “Boardwalk Empire” Speaks to Students

Posted November 29th, 2015

Dealing with Rejection to Reach Success

Nelson Johnson, a New Jersey Atlantic County judge and author of the book Boardwalk Empire, spoke to Prep students in reference to the writing process and the importance of  always being true to who you are and to write with passion. An accomplished writer, Mr. Johnson authored two other books, The Northside: African Americans and the Creation of Atlantic City and Battleground. He spoke of his time working in politics where he became fascinated with how Atlantic City came to be and the corruption that formed the city we know today, which was the inspiration for Boardwalk Empire.

Mr. Johnson noted the importance of research when writing a book. He regaled the students with many stories of how he spent his weekends pent up in different university libraries, pouring through old documents in order to obtain the most accurate information he could for his book. During the research phase of each book, he formed friendships with people who were alive during that time period, which yielded first-hand stories of the events that took place.

In 2002 he went to Los Angeles to pitch Boardwalk Empire as a movie. The pitch was a success; however, instead of a movie it became a wildly famous TV series on HBO which ran from 2010 to 2014.

Mr. Johnson donated three copies of his books to the Prep which will be held in Mr. Blystone’s classroom.

In the photo from left to right: TJ Reed, Nelson Johnson, Steven Sontag, Michael Gillen