Kirk W. Johnson
Kirk Wallace Johnson was born in West Chicago, Illinois. His father served as a Republican State Representative and Senator. His mother worked as a policy advisor to the Illinois Attorney General. At fifteen years old, he traveled to Egypt with his grandmother. He began studying Arabic in evening classes at the College of DuPage. He skipped his high school graduation to attend the Arabic Language Institute at the American University in Cairo. This decision set him on a path that would eventually lead him to Iraq.
Johnson opposed the Iraq War but felt an ethical obligation to help with reconstruction efforts. After returning from Iraq with post-traumatic stress disorder, former Iraqi colleagues contacted him. They were running for their lives because they had worked for the U.S. Government during the war. In December 2006, he wrote an op-ed for the Los Angeles Times calling upon the government to open its doors to these allies. Thousands of refugees sent petitions flooding his inbox. He founded The List Project to Resettle Iraqi Allies. Hundreds of attorneys from top law firms represented their cases on a pro bono basis. Over eight years, the project helped over 2,000 U.S.-affiliated Iraqis resettle to America.
Johnson testified before Congress regarding the plight of foreign nationals who assisted U.S. operations. He worked closely with Senator Ted Kennedy toward the creation of the Special Immigrant Visa program. This visa was designated for Iraqis and Afghans that worked for the United States during the wars. His work appeared in 60 Minutes, the Today Show, and The New Yorker. It also became the subject of his 2013 memoir titled To Be a Friend Is Fatal: the Fight to Save the Iraqis America Left Behind. The legislation aimed to provide safety for those who had risked everything for American interests.
After returning from Iraq, Johnson began fly-fishing as a hobby. A guide from New Mexico told him about an American flutist named Edwin Rist. Rist stole remains of rare birds from the Natural History Museum in England. Hobbyists pay high prices for the feathers of exotic birds used by fly-fishers. Johnson spent five years researching and interviewing people including Rist himself. The resulting book The Feather Thief won multiple awards. It was named an Amazon Best Book of 2018. Critics shortlisted it for a Crime Writers Association Gold Dagger Award. It reached finalist status for the 2019 Edgar Awards for Best Fact Crime.
Johnson is adapting The Feather Thief into a television series. He created an ongoing series currently in development with Universal International Studios. Sue Naegle's Dinner Party Productions is producing this project alongside him. Last Flight is a feature film about the Fall of Kabul currently in development. Babak Anvari directs while Two & Two Pictures produces. The rights to The Fishermen and the Dragon were sold to George Clooney's production company. They plan to turn the story into a multi-part series. These projects bring his written narratives to visual media formats.
Johnson recorded many pieces with This American Life radio program. Taking Names covers his experiences in the Iraq War and efforts to save Iraqi colleagues. The Feather Heist recounts his investigation that led to his book The Feather Thief. He's Making a List addresses the Trump refugee ban of 2017. Getting Out deals with his actions to evacuate Afghans during the Fall of Kabul. Pivot Point discusses his family's evacuation from the January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires. These audio segments document personal experiences with war, crime investigations, and refugee crises.
In 2024, Johnson became one of three lead plaintiffs in a major copyright infringement case. Andrea Bartz and Charles Graeber joined him as co-plaintiffs. They sued Anthropic regarding unauthorized use of author data in large language models. This became the largest class action lawsuit for IP infringement in U.S. history on behalf of tens of thousands of authors. Their works were pirated by Anthropic AI in the development of their LLMs. The subsequent settlement reached $1.5 billion. It stands as the largest recovery in the history of U.S. copyright cases.
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Common questions
Where was Kirk W. Johnson born and what was his family background?
Kirk Wallace Johnson was born in West Chicago, Illinois to a father who served as a Republican State Representative and Senator and a mother who worked as a policy advisor to the Illinois Attorney General.
How did Kirk W. Johnson help Iraqi allies after the Iraq War?
Johnson founded The List Project to Resettle Iraqi Allies which helped over 2,000 U.S.-affiliated Iraqis resettle to America over eight years with pro bono legal representation from hundreds of attorneys.
What book did Kirk W. Johnson write about bird theft and when was it published?
The Feather Thief is a book by Kirk Wallace Johnson that won multiple awards including being named an Amazon Best Book of 2018 and reaching finalist status for the 2019 Edgar Awards for Best Fact Crime.
Who are the co-plaintiffs in the copyright infringement case involving Kirk W. Johnson?
Andrea Bartz and Charles Graeber joined Kirk Wallace Johnson as co-plaintiffs in a major copyright infringement case against Anthropic regarding unauthorized use of author data in large language models.