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Toronto illustrator Anita Kunz's image of a woman being invaded by twin serpents is featured on the cover of the new edition of Osler's Web, a gift of the artist.

Kunz was commissioned in 1987 by the editors at Rolling Stone magazine to illustrate my two part series, "Journey Into Fear," a front line report that described the emergence of M.E. in the United States in the middle 1980s. After reading my unpublished manuscript, Kunz painted this unforgettable, powerfully intuitive portrait. Her illustration was featured as a two-page spread in the magazine.

To learn more about the artistry of Anita Kunz, whose work regularly appears on the covers of Time, Newsweek, The New Yorker and other magazines, and who was named one of Canada's fifty most influential women, visit her one-line gallery.

---Hillary

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I am a man with CFS - and have been tested positively for XMRV, CMV and EBV this year. I have pretty much all the symptoms listed for this disease. I appreciate any efforts made towards dealing with the real cause of this and any possible cures or treatments. It's beyond me why the CDC defends their rediculous 'position' on this - unless it has to do with MONEY. Time will tell on that front. Let's hope we get past all the politics and get onto a cure!








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I just wanted to thank you for the work you've done and continue to do to expose the truth. Like you I'm an honors graduate of UC Berkeley, a former marathon runner and (was) a happy and optimistic individual. Until the night 16 years ago I went to the hospital with a raging viral infection from which I've never recovered. Yeah I went from a high achieving, successful and happy person to a "malingerer" with a psycho-somatic illness. Sure I wanted to give up my life for no discernable reason and it must all be in my head. You can't imagine the rage of living with this illness and hearing time and again it doesn't really exist. I just wanted to thank you for your validating work and for the effort you've put into exposing some of the reasons this disease continues to be ignored.

---Alex Chisholm



Why are we so lucky to have you battling for us Hillary? I am grateful and I know everyone with CFS is also. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I'm so glad you became one of the best investigative journalists and that you took up our cause. I read every word of Osler's Web, with my dictionary in hand and I felt completely validated and informed when I was through.

---Tracey (CFS sufferer of 25 years)

Awesome investigative journalism Your mother Ruth's drawing's along with your captions share a story and though you may feel you'll never make peace with what happened... I believe you will.

---Diana Saba 5/4/2009

That artwork is exactly how I feel. The portrayal is awesome. We have a CFS website and make Osler's Web required reading for everyone. Thank you for such an historical piece of stellar research.

---Khaly Castle





Le Chat Noir

(A Requiem)


Art by Ruth Jones, raconteur, dreamer, mother. 1928-1994. Captions by Hillary Johnson.


I Used to Swim in the Caribbean Sea.

I Rode Horses as a Girl in Minnesota.

My Mother and I Lived in Paris when I was Very Young.

I was a Journalist in New York City. A colleague called me a "Pit Bull with a Steno Pad."

My grandmother had a dream I would be famous--on the order of Gandhi.

Twenty-Four Years Ago a Black Cat Crossed My Path. Terrible Luck--I Fell Ill.

It was Like Dying. It was Biblical.

Is this Real? Have I been Poisoned?

Have I Lived Imprudently? Was I Hitler in Another Life?

Experts Weighed In: "Call Me in Two Years if You're Not Feeling Better."

Visitors at Bedside

My Government Defamed Me.

Friends and Family Fled...

and Went On With Their Lives.

In the turmoil, everything lovely and important slipped into the deep, leaving behind only flotsam--a host of banalities.

The Cat Chose to Stay, Indefinitely.

I Began Asking Questions of the Authorities.

There were millions of us being herded into cattle cars. It was a medical holocaust!

Angels Thumbed Their Noses, Even So.

Who Would Help Us?

Governments of Great Nations Piled On. Years and years passed. Tuskegee came to mind.

I Will Never "Make Peace" with What Happened.

There are No More Questions. There is Only Contemplation. And a Succession of Days.

Bad Day

Not-Too-Bad Day

Years Ago, I Used to Dream I Was Well.

Now I Dream I Am Traveling. My Destination is Never Specific--it is simply "Away."

The Cat is Always Changing.