Harriet McBryde Johnson went to schools for children with disabilities until age thirteen and to a cross-disability summer camp until age seventeen. She kept in contact with some of her friends from those times throughout her life. Having continued her education in regular schools, she became a lawyer in 1985. Ms. Johnson wrote for the New York Times Magazine and was a frequent contributor to the disability press. She was also the author of a memoir, Too Late to Die Young. Harriet died in June 2008.