By Carolyn Maxwell—
Johnson vs. Johnson
Author, Barbara Goldsmith; published by Alfred A. Knopf, New York in February 1987.
The book is based on the true story between the legal battle between the widow, Barbara (Basia) of Johnson & Johnson heir, J. Seward Johnson and Seward’s six children from his first two marriages. Barbara, J. Seward Johnson’s third wife was left his complete fortune of over $500 million upon his death.
Unfortunately the book gets bogged down when Ms. Goldsmith delves too much into the relationships of Seward and his children which has no bearing on the lawsuit. There are subplots into the marriages of Johnson’s children and grandchildren dealing with murder plots, drug habbits and deviant behavior. Two or three examples are fine, but Ms. Goldsmith went into overkill. Was it so important to report that at one time the children claimed to live in poverty despite their wealth when they were growing up? There were so many characters and so many different relationships going on that you needed a scorecard to keep up. I found that Ms. Goldsmith jumped around too much in this book and many of the stories from the different people she interviewed seemed out of sequence.
Ms. Goldsmith especially spent a lot of time on the childhood and relationships of Mary Lea Johnson Richards who was the oldest child of J. Seward Johnson. Mary Lea supposedly had an inappropriately close relationship with her father. She had two marriages in which one of her spouses was accused of hiring someone to kill her. She seemed to have found happiness in her third marriage to a producer, Marty Richards.
J Seward Johnson’s son, Seward Johnson Jr. was one of the other children that Ms. Goldsmith seemed to favor. Johnson Jr. was depicted as having a love/hate relationship with his father. Despite this, he longed for his father’s approval as did his sister, Mary Lea.
Interestingly enough, the City of Perth Amboy is sprinkled throughout the book. Seward Johnson’s first wife was named Ruth who was from Bermuda. Ruth’s mother was born in Perth Amboy.
Basia was a Polish immigrant who lived in Perth Amboy with a family by the name of Wyszynkis. As a matter of fact, she became engaged to a Polish sailor named Piotr Ejsmont. Unfortunately, he died when a boat he was piloting tipped over.
Basia went to work as a cook for the Johnsons, saved up enough money to live in a modest apartment in New York and take English classes. In the time she worked in the Johnson household, she caught Seward’s attention and summoned her back to work not as cook or chambermaid but as a art expert.
At the time Seward was married for 34 years to his second wife, Esther. Esther was the mother of his last two children: Jennifer and James. Seward married Basia when she was 34 and he was 76. This marriage took place eight days after he divorced Esther. Basia was depicted as either a guardian angel or a mean spirited woman to her husband depending on who was interviewed in the book.
Some of the lawyers on Basia Johnson’s side were depicted as intimidating some potential eyewitnesses that may be called to testify on the widow’s behalf. Throughout the book there were photos of Basia being very loving to her husband despite the 42 year age difference. There are pictures of them on the beach with her lovingly massaging his legs and feet and other photos of them in a passionate kiss.
Ironically there are also pictures of Basia and Seward’s children at affairs having a very good time. According to Basia, she and Johnson’s children got along very well as a whole until they discovered that they were left out of the will. According to the book, the main reason Seward’s children were left out of his final will was because they were set up with a trust fund. This fund would make each child individually wealthy for the rest of their lives.
Basia said because of the past behavior of some of Seward’s children, he felt that they might squander any additional money that might be left in the will. Then the gloves came off on both sides. Seward’s children accused Basia of purposing alienating them from their father while he was suffering and dying from cancer.
Another aspect of the will that bothered the children, especially Seward Johnson Jr., was why his father would cut Harborbranch Research out of the will. His father loved to sail and the sea and Harborbranch Oceanographic Institute was a dream come true for his dad. Employees of Seward and Basia either accused Basia of being a saint to her elderly husband or a shrew. It’s up to the reader to decide who they believed is telling the truth in this tangled web of characterizations.
Was Basia an opportunist? Or was she someone who truly loved her elderly husband? After the suit was settled and the children each received $6.2 million after taxes, Seward Jr. was given an extra $8 million as an executor and a trustee. Basia received $340 million out of the original $500 million. Harborbranch received $20 million.
According to the book, in 1987, the Johnson children’s net worth individually ranged from: $38 million (J. Seward Johnson Jr.) to a high of $106.2 million (Jennifer Johnson Duke)
Many wills were written in a short period of time. The lawyer, Nina Zagat who wrote the last few wills stood to gain a lot of money being the executor of the will, not only that she was a close friend of Basia. Zagat was the wife of the Zagat restaurant fame. Nina Zagat was granted $1.8 million before taxes instead of $30 million she would have received based on her life expectancy.
Basia passed away at the age of 76 in Monte Carlo in Poland on April 1, 2013, following a long illness. She never remarried and she contributed a lot of money to humanitarian causes, especially in Poland, the country where she was born. She also gave seed money for St. Joseph’s Senior home in Woodbridge, New Jersey.
If you are interested in learning about the dirt that went on behind the scenes of the Johnson & Johnson family then this book is for you. But those interested in the trial dealing with the contested will, then I would recommend that you look at the internet and at articles dealing with the trial through the newspaper archives. That would include The Daily News & The New York Post.
As an aside, I am printing two letters: One from Perth Amboy resident, Peter Book, who supplied this book to me, and also a letter from Sister Mary Louise who was an administrator at St. Joseph’s Senior Residence. Her letter was originally printed in the Amboy Beacon on August 29, 2001. Part of this letter is edited. The two letters plus other material were provided to me by Mr. Book.
Rebuttal to Mr. Book 8/29/2001
Mr. Book’s crude and highly-abusive attack on Mrs. Basia (Barbara) Plasecki Johnson (“Alternative Funding?” August 15) is unfounded. Not only is it false and degrading to her, but also this is public harassment. This is disgraceful and demeaning to Mr. Book, as a lawyer!Barbara Johnson is a university graduate and an artist. She is an altruistic philanthropist and equestrian who does not look for publicity. She was wealthy in Poland before the war, has contributed several times to St. Stephen’s Renovation Fund, and now is finishing the entire marble flooring for St. Stephen’s.
Barbara Johnson is our greatest benefactor. She came to our rescue in 1977, when we needed the seed money to open our fundraiser campaign to build our now 20-year old St. Joseph’s Senior Residence. She graciously donated $350,000 to begin construction. When construction was halted for lack of funds, she again donated $350,000. Then, when we needed to pay the salaries of the workers, she donated again – altogether, $850,000. Because of her, we have been able to give a home to 481 residents of all denominations.
Each year, Barbara holds benefits for the crippled and other children’s diseases at her Princeton homestead, “Josna Polana.” She also built a children’s hospital in Krakow and several children’s clinics. It is, indeed, very humiliating to even read what Mr. Book so viciously wrote when he didn’t know the true facts.
As for her love-life with Seward, knowing him as other people and I got to know him, he would not have tolerated or lived married to Barbara for 16 years (not six years as Mr. Book erroneously stated). Seward knew she loved and cared for him. Even though she had professional nurses around-the-clock for him, she herself changed and bandaged his open leg lesions and followed his doctor’s orders to the “T.” She tended to him delicately, not roughly as she said others did, because she didn’t want him to suffer needlessly. She also employed the nursing sisters because she loved Seward and wanted loving care for him.
Another fact: Mr. Book, and readers, too would be like “tigers” as Mrs. Johnson had reason to be. Coming back from a one-week absence, she found her private bath full of scum and filth. I was there and saw it! Naturally, and rightfully, she was devastated and angry!
I hope this letter teaches Mr. Book and all of us not to unjustly criticize or write such false, crude accusations before checking for the true facts.
Barbara Goldsmith’s fiction book is not the Bible. She ruined her own reputation by giving evidence how little she knows, or traveled, for she said, “She never has seen as poor or primitive a people!” Mr. Book should think twice before writing such false, offensive letters!
Sister Mary Louise, Administrator, St. Joseph’s Seniors Residence
It Started in Perth Amboy (April 9, 2013)
A Change of Heart (of Mr. Book’s opinion of Basia Johnson from 2001)
One of the most remarkable successful stories of all time began right here in the City by the Bay with Henry (Heinrich) and Danuta Wyszynski. They resided at Market Street on the same block as the City Hall, the oldest functional municipal city hall in the country. Henry, a former Polish Army officer and diplomat, and his wife, Daunta, a well known artist and portrait painter, made Polish refugees welcome to the U.S. of A. One of them Barbara (Basia) Piasecka lived with them until they found her a job as a cook at the J. Seward Johnson estate in Oldwick, N.J. By the way whenever I visit the Zylka Funeral Home across the street from St. Stephen’s Church I marvel at the portrait Danuta painted of Tony Zylka, one of the most popular men in town.
Basia was a college graduate and not exactly a cook. So she became a chambermaid. Being very attractive young Polish girl she caught the eye of J. Seward Johnson, the younger brother of General Robert Johnson, the founder of J&J Company until it became a multi-national corporation. Seward rode along with it until he also became a billionaire. He fell in love with Basia despite the fact that he was 42 years older. By the way, in World War I he served as a sailor in the U.S. Navy on the Eagle 48 based on the waterfront in Perth Amboy.
Apparently Seward and Basia lived an idyllic life for 12 years until he died in 1983. By terms of his will he left Basia $450 million. His 6 kids, all mature adults, resented her although he had already made each of them multi-millionaires.
The ensuing probate battle in Manhattan was one of the biggest ever in any court. President Nixon’s old law firm shared the legal fees of almost $30 million. After many months of fighting the case was settled. Basia wound up with $340 million.
Instead of squandering the money and living extravagantly and being involved in scandals she led a straight life helping many charities and her native country. By astute dealings in the art field she ran the money into billions thus making her one of the richest women in the world. She died in her native Poland mourned and revered by her people and the world. Rest in peace, dear Basia! Requsat in Pace!
Thank you for your courtesies.
Very truly yours,
Peter Book/a.k.a. Pedro Libro
