Lennie Johns was born at Bennydale in the King country and was educated at Hillcrest High School in Hamilton and Te Aute College. He attained a Masters degree in geography in 1997 at Waikato University. He is currently conducting research into Ngāti Tuwharetoa Treaty of Waitangi Claims and Settlements. He is also writing short stories and has a number of works in progress entitled "How the World Became Colourful" and "Pungarehu – Burning Stars".
Biographical sources
- Correspondence from Lennie Johns, 5 Mar 1993, 2 July 1998, and 25 June 2004.
Fiction
- "Friends." Koru: The New Zealand Māori Artists and Writers’ Annual Magazine. Ed. Haare Williams. 2 (1978): 11.
- The narrator describes a visit with his grandmother.
- "Experience." Koru: The New Zealand Māori Artists and Writers’ Annual Magazine. Ed. Haare Williams. 2 (1978): 12.
- The narrator recalls his teenage crush on Jacky who was formerly the ‘snotty-nosed girl’ around the pa. In the intervening years, she has turned into a beauty.