# Flat-Earth Society President is Dead at 76 **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 26, 2001, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earth-society-president-is-dead-at-76/59597 "2001-03-26T22:55:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![City\_Gent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a87d85/32.png) [@City\_Gent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/City_Gent)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2001, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earth-society-president-is-dead-at-76/59597/1 "2001-03-26T22:55:31Z")
Charles Johnson, President of Flat Earth Society, is dead at 76 [http://www0.mercurycenter.com/premium/local/docs/johnson26.htm](http://www0.mercurycenter.com/premium/local/docs/johnson26.htm) I never knew whether to take this guy seriously, but it doesn’t matter now since he’s shuffled off this mortal coil and joined the choir invisible. If I were at Johnson’s funeral, I’d tell the story about someone in a debate accusing the famous creationist Duane Gish of being in the same class as the Flat-Earth Society. Gish replied haughtily that Flat-Earthers were kooks, and assured his opponent that there was no overlap between the Institute for Creation Research and the Flat-Earth Society. Soon after, Charles Johnson wrote Gish a nasty letter, defending his constituents against charges of kookdom and producing a list of several people who were indeed members of both organizations. IIRC, the people then quit the ICR because it was too liberal. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2001, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earth-society-president-is-dead-at-76/59597/2 "2001-03-26T23:22:48Z")
> [@](#): > > _originally posted in GQ “Fossil Record” thread:_ > [hijack] > > > [@](#): > > > > Just as flat earthers can’t understand… > > The founder of the Flat Earth Society, Charles. K. Johnson, died in Lancaster, CA (where I used to live, BTW) on March 18th, 2001. Did he really believe the Earth was flat? Or was it all a giant hoax? Since Johnson was an aeronautical engineer, I suspect the latter; an interview with an Antelope Valley reporter on NPR on Wednesday indicated it might have been a joke.[/hijack] Yeah, I heard about that. ---
**Author:** ![Flymaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c4cdca/32.png) [@Flymaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flymaster)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2001, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earth-society-president-is-dead-at-76/59597/3 "2001-03-26T23:29:21Z")
And to think, at least a million people probably read the story in the Boston _Globe_. [sub]Oh, come on…SOMEBODY had to make a tasteless joke.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![SuaSponte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@SuaSponte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuaSponte)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2001, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earth-society-president-is-dead-at-76/59597/4 "2001-03-26T23:29:25Z")
I read your link, **City Gent** , and it was obviously another bunch of tripe from the liberal, globalist media. The article claimed that Mr. Johnson died in Hi Vista, California. Completely untrue - Mr. Johnson fell off. Sua ---
**Author:** ![City\_Gent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a87d85/32.png) [@City\_Gent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/City_Gent)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2001, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earth-society-president-is-dead-at-76/59597/5 "2001-03-26T23:47:52Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by Johnny L.A. \* \*\* > [@](#): > > _originally posted in GQ “Fossil Record” thread:_ > [hijack] > > > [@](#): > > > > Did he really believe the Earth was flat? Or was it all a giant hoax? Since Johnson was an aeronautical engineer, I suspect the latter; an interview with an Antelope Valley reporter on NPR on Wednesday indicated it might have been a joke.[/hijack] \*\* In my experience, there’s a breed of aeronautical engineers, especially in Southern California, that is frighteningly medieval - not far left of the Montana Freemen, and that’s no exaggeration. I think this is a big reason for Orange County being such a conservative stronghold. So it wouldn’t really surprise me if Johnson were sincere. In fact, I’d more likely believe an aeronautical engineer to be involved in the Flat Earth Society than any other engineering specialty. Notice he doesn’t call himself an _aerospace_ engineer. ---
**Author:** ![Whammo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8dc957/32.png) [@Whammo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whammo)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2001, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earth-society-president-is-dead-at-76/59597/6 "2001-03-26T23:59:18Z")
I hope they didn’t dig his grave TOO deep! ---
**Author:** ![Whammo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8dc957/32.png) [@Whammo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whammo)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2001, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earth-society-president-is-dead-at-76/59597/7 "2001-03-27T00:05:11Z")
I hope they didn’t dig his grave TOO deep! ---
**Author:** ![Ad\_Noctum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b19c9b/32.png) [@Ad\_Noctum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ad_Noctum)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2001, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earth-society-president-is-dead-at-76/59597/8 "2001-03-27T00:17:20Z")
he might fall through China LOL ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2001, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earth-society-president-is-dead-at-76/59597/9 "2001-03-27T13:32:55Z")
Well, now he knows for sure if he was right or wrong all these years. ---
**Author:** ![lurkernomore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@lurkernomore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lurkernomore)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2001, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earth-society-president-is-dead-at-76/59597/10 "2001-03-27T15:06:00Z")
For services, he is being cremated and his ashes dropped off the World’s Edge - as soon as the Executive Board finds it… ---
**Author:** ![Rue\_DeDay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/41988e/32.png) [@Rue\_DeDay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rue_DeDay)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2001, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/flat-earth-society-president-is-dead-at-76/59597/11 "2001-03-27T17:38:58Z")
Is the Flat-Earth Society international? As in both the Eastern and Western Hemispheres? If they did have an International Flat-Earth Jamboree, would all the members have to make sure their flights crossed the Atlantic? Or the Pacific if it comes to that. (Semi-serious question- it’ll keep me from starting a thread)