Johnson, 97, worked on “Afro Sheen” with the author-editor Hilary Beard. He hadn't thought of writing a book until three years ago.

“I had an epiphany on Sunday morning, November 21, 2021,” he said in a statement released Wednesday by Little, Brown. "In that experience, I clearly heard five words: ‘You must tell your story.’ I believed it was the voice of the Lord. I made a 180 degree turn and immediately sought a writer.”