St. Paul's Chapel and Selected Shorter Poems

Widely acclaimed for his verse, Chester Johnson writes poems that, in the words of the literary critic, Edward Mendelson, range over a wide verbal, intellectual, and emotional territory that includes unsettling moments of darkness – in both the inner and outer worlds – and reassuring evocations of light. But all its elements cohere in a unified vision. In the phrase of the old Baedeker guides, these landscapes are ‘worth the journey.’” He was one of two poets on the revision committee of the Psalms for The Episcopal Church, which version now appears in The Book of Common Prayer. One of his poems is also on display at Ground Zero in St. Paul’s Chapel and serves as a handout there. Chester Johnson has authored ten chapbooks; drawing on those collections and new verse, he has put together a new book of poetry in St. Paul’s Chapel & Selected Shorter Poems that includes both past and recent work. He has had an active business career, being a group head at The Morgan Bank (JP Morgan), Deputy Assistant Secretary of the U. S. Department of Treasury, and, for many years now, chairman of his own financial advisory firm for securities sold by states, localities, public authorities and non-profit entities.J. Chester Johnson is the author of 'St. Paul's Chapel and Selected Shorter Poems', published 2006 under ISBN 9781556182112 and ISBN 1556182112.