Shaun Johnston

Shaun Johnston (born March 1, 1939) is a British author, artist and entrepreneur. He is the founder of Evolved Self Publishing, publisher of books on the effects of evolutionary theory on our sense of self, and the website Evolution For the Humanities. Johnston runs a candle and soap shop, Rosendale Waxworks, in Rosendale, New York.
Johnston is a lifelong atheist, and a firm believer in evolution. In his fifties he began exploring what it means for us that we evolved, writing first two novels, then a self-improvement manual, three other non-fiction accounts, and a play. His writing led him to question today’s scientific mechanism for evolution, the modern synthesis of natural selection and genetic mutation. In his writing he points out flaws in the science and the reasoning behind it, seeing it being misused to support belief in physicalism (belief in a purely physical universe). He advocates attributing to it only microevolution, selection among existing alleles favoring adaptation of most-fit races, but not species.
==Early life and education==
Johnston was born on March 1, 1939. He was a witness to the German bombing campaign in London - The Blitz. He attended the Rutlish Grammar School, graduating in 1957. Soon after his highschool graduation, Johnston enrolled in the University College London, where he pursued a bachelor course in Biochemistry. 
In 1968, Johnston migrated to the USA. 
==Career==
After completing his college, Johnston worked for six years as a graphic designer at two of the leading publishing houses in London - Macmillans Inc. and Thames & Hudson.
Johnston migrated to the USA in 1968 and joined Dover publications as a book designer, where he worked for five years. In 1973, he joined Park Row Publishers, where he gained recognition for medical writing, along with designing. After moving from Manhattan to the mid Hudson Valley Johnston launched NYC Getaways, an online tour publisher. He closed it in 2010.
In 1972 he began writing a series of books exploring the impact of evolutionary theory on our sense of self, that he published under the imprint Evolved Self Publishing, website evolvedself.com. He also explored this topic in a 90-minute play, a series of videos, and a podcast.
In 2010, to help others examine evolution from a broad perspective as he does, Johnston launched Evolutionforthehumanities.com. The site includes a collection of the reviews of books both classic and contemporary on evolutionary theory, most of the reviews written by Johnston. 
In 2019, he founded Rosendale Waxworks, a soap and candle shop where he and his wife make and sell their own candles. It also offers several dozen prints of his photos and artworks.
==Books==
* Father, in a Far Distant Time I Find You: Utopian novel exploring the impact of evolutionary theory on human nature, published in 2002. 
* Me and The Genies, published in 2006. 
* Save Our Selves from Science Gone Wrong: Physicalism and natural selection, published in 2010. 
* Self Improvement Through a New Approach to Evolution, published in 2010.
* Re-thinking What it Means We Evolved: A New Framework for Universal Moral Values, published in 2017.
* Are You Wonderful? Good Science Says Yes: How to tell good science from bad, published in 2020.
==Personal life==
Johnston was formerly married to Susan Feder, who died in 2008. He remarried, to Wilda Gallagher, in 2013. 
==In the media==
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==References==
==External links==
* 
* Evolved Self's channel on YouTube
* Shaun Johnston on Academia.edu
Category:1939 births
Category:British authors
Category:British artists
Category:Entrepreneurs
Category:British publishers (people)
Category:Alumni of University College London