JIM MCKEE

(This column originally ran June 1, 2014)

Before his nomination to the Nebraska Hall of Fame Alvin Johnson probably wouldn't even appear as the most famous person to come from Homer, Nebraska. But Johnson, who attended the University of Nebraska, became a founding editor of the “New Republic,” wrote fiction and nonfiction books and established a highly respected university, is most certainly a name to be reckoned with and now should be on everyone’s list.

Jen Jensen Deyrup immigrated from Denmark to Wayne County, Nebraska, and with the manipulation of an immigration officer, became John Johnson. John married a neighboring Danish immigrant and built a log house near the village of Homer, named for the Greek scholar and poet. With a nod to Nebraska territorial governor Alvin Sau

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