Frank H. Johnson died at the age of 88 on March 6, 2001.
He was a famous direct response copywriter with a distingushed career, including serving as the circulation and promotion manager for Fortune magazine for many years.
His most obvious claim to fame is that he invented box that bears his name, used in direct mail sales letters.
What is a Johnson Box? It is body copy that is emphasized by being in an outlined box composed of asterisks or a different background color than the body of the main text. It is a staple for creating any direct mail presentation. In effect, it is a super emphasized main point of the selling letter.
I found a few by searching the web. These examples include a photo of the product being sold and work as a call to action, closing the sale.
One direct mail agency president, Albert Fried-Cassorla, called Mr. Johnson’s invention “one of the most potent features of any direct mail communication.”
For more on Johnson boxes and other examples of effective direct mail methods, see Million Dollar Mailings by Denison , an unabridged-dictionary-sized book of the most effective mailings in recent years, and Overlines, Johnson boxes and other assorted screams and moans, a short e-document about direct response techniques.