John Johnson grew up in Bed-ford-Stuyvesant and Harlem, the only son of a man who worked hard to support his family, but also tyrannized them with violent outbursts and regular beatings. His childhood made Johnson tough and angry-and fueled his determination to be a successful black man in a white world. Eventually, he became one of the biggest names in New York television news. Then something happened. His mother, whom he loved dearly, died in his arms, and his father was diagnosed with lung cancer soon after. Stunned, Johnson stepped back and realized that he had been so driven to succeed that he had forgotten the values-and the people-that truly mattered. So he quit his lucrative job and hard-won career to take care of the father who had tormented him so many years ago. ONLY SON is the story of a father and son who must untangle the bitter memories of their past in order to say goodbye....with love.

OHN JOHNSON has been a correspondent and anchor for WABC News, and an anchor and senior correspondent for WCBS and WNBC. He has won numerous awards and honors, including eight Emmy Awards. Before his distinguished career in broadcast journalism he was a teacher, an assistant principal, and an associate professor of fine arts at Lincoln University. Johnson is an accomplished painter and still exhibits his work. He lives in upstate New York.

John Johnson was an Emmy-award winning anchorman and prominent journalist in an industry with few African-Americans. When his father was diagnosed with lung cancer, Johnson gave up his career to take care of a man who had regularly beat him as a child. Find out why he did it and hear Johnson's thoughts on fathers and sons. Plus: does the stock market have a hangover or a disease? How is Hong Kong doing five years after the handover to China? And should parents have regular performance appraisals?