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Things to Do

National Toy Hall of Famer Lonnie Johnson on the Super Soaker’s origins

The nuclear engineer joins Monica Pearson for a chat about his early experiments and hi current projects.

Credit: AJC Staff

Inventor Lonnie Johnson talks about some of his early experiments that went awry on this week's edition of "The Monica Pearson Show."
By Keri Janton – For the AJC
June 26, 2024

Lonnie Johnson, inventor of the Super Soaker, one of the bestselling toys of all time, is not just a member of the National Toy Hall of Fame, he’s also a nuclear engineer and NASA scientist with over 100 patents. Even more, he has a fun personality and loves to laugh, which he proves on this week’s episode of “The Monica Pearson Show.”

Johnson resides in Atlanta now but grew up in Alabama where he attended a segregated high school. He describes those days and dives into how he became an inventor, which had everything to do with his father’s instruction and his own insatiable curiosity.

He may have nearly burned his house down as a kid and, yes, he was pulled over by police in his self-made go-cart but experiments like those are what earned him the nickname “Professor” and led to unparalleled professional success.

His mantra “at least if I fail, I know I tried” continues to be his guiding light.

Hear what projects he’s currently working on (hint: think green) and find out if any of his four children are following in dad’s footsteps.

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