Arnie Johnson Tribute No. 28: OBSERVATIONS

by Jon Rosner

From the first time that I met Arnie, I had a strong sense of his passion for Lotus and how he cared about the people he worked with, treating his customers essentially as he might relate to a family member. I had the oppmiunity to be present a number of times when Arnie met members of the press. This was fascinating. Arnie had a tremendous skill in being able to read people and relate to them in a way that reflected who they were. The differences in approach sometimes made me wonder how he could have such a strong sense of the individual with whom he was speaking. I knew some of these people fairly well from experience, and I learned how to relate to them, how to work with them, where Arnie always seemed to be on the right page after the briefest interaction. I have observed this skill before, sometimes in people I feared for their skills in being manipulative. But in my observations I never felt Arnie used his skill to manipulate, but simply sought to relate and offer a fair, measured and honest response. Yes, sometimes there might be the quiet, gentle but maybe funny or prodding zinger from someone who might have a prank up their sleeve. It always felt to me that his words came from a place of warmth and kindness.