Obituary: Brian Johnston / CMU professor shook up established view of Ibsen

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: There are many stories about Brian Johnston, world-renowned Ibsen scholar, CMU professor, Middle East human rights activist and educator, but perhaps the most noteworthy has to have been when he was teaching at American University in Beirut in the 1980s. Even as the city became increasingly dangerous, and some of his fellow university professors had been kidnapped, Mr. Johnston still ventured out, until one day he was stopped at a checkpoint by a man with a machine gun and a black cloth over his face, recalled Jed Harris, a longtime colleague. He was certain that he was about to be taken, when the man lifted his cloth slightly and said, "Have you graded your papers yet, professor Johnston?" and waved him on. That's how good a teacher he was, Mr. Harris said.