Obituary

Abby Johnston 
April 3, 1940 – July 30, 2025

Abigail (Abby) Lee Johnston had a quiet charisma. She drew people to her with her quirky personality and big heart, according to those who knew her. She died on July 30, 2025, from jaw and tongue cancer at 85 years old.

Born on April 3, 1940, in New York City, Johnston grew up in Manhattan’s Upper West Side. She worked for small publishing houses, including G.P. Putnam’s Sons. 

In 1970, she moved to San Francisco because “her first marriage wasn’t going so well,” said Johnston’s second husband, Steve Fotter. “He was in the Peace Corps, and she was unhappy. A friend of hers with a camper was headed West, and so off she went. She knew some people out here, so that was an inducement as well.” 

Johnston stayed in the Haight with a friend from her college days at Syracuse University, Jackie Maxwell. 

“She made a nest for herself for a few months in a space under the stairs,” Fotter said. “She liked to joke that she started her life in San Francisco at the bottom.”   

Maxwell’s husband, Larry Duling, was in the printing business and gave Johnston a job as an assistant in the art department. Fotter also worked for Duling as a typesetter and handyman. They met at a Thanksgiving dinner in 1971 and rapidly fell in love, according to Fotter. They moved in together in Potrero Hill and married on June 15, 1976. 

While living on the Hill, Johnston put her publishing know-how to use at the Potrero View, where she met Lester Zeidman, also involved with the paper.  

“We all had a lot of roles, but she was kind of the paste-up artist,” said Zeidman, who is The Good Life Grocery’s former co-owner and chief executive officer. 

For the first more than 30 years the View was put together by hand, which involved scissors, glue, and boards. 

“She’d help prepare the paper for the ads and lay out the stories. She pasted them onto boards, finagled them onto her bicycle, and biked down to the printers at 11:30 at night,” said Zeidman. “She was never lazy or moody. She was always a positive, creative person.” 

Johnston had various roles at the View, including editor, and stayed with the newspaper for 30 years. After she left, she helped Zeidman design The Good Life Grocery calendar. 

“She came up with the style and it’s what’s printed today,” he said. “I used to pay her for her work on the calendar in baseball tickets. She always loved going to the stadium and sitting in the upper deck. And when she wasn’t watching the Giants play live, she listened to games on the radio.”

Johnston had both a creative and detail-oriented mind. She kept records of every significant event in her life, according to Fotter. 

“At the age of 16, she had her first slice of pizza. It was November 8, 1956; it’s a date I’ll never forget. I assume she was going out with a boyfriend or something. How can you be in Manhattan that long without having pizza?” he said with a laugh.

Johnston worked with Peter Linenthal on the Potrero Hill Archives Project, focusing on record-keeping and research, some of her favorite activities. The project records the neighborhood’s history. They co-wrote two books, San Francisco’s Potrero Hill, and Potrero Hill: Then and Now, published by Arcadia Publishing.

San Francisco’s Potrero Hill took a few years to complete. The pair didn’t want to miss any important aspects of Hill history. 

“There were many times when Abby said, ‘I have a new idea for how to reorganize things. It was a lot of work, and I began to dread hearing her say that,” Linenthal said with a laugh. “But they were always really good ideas. It just showed her tenacity, attention to detail, and her high standards for things.”

Linenthal appreciated Johnston’s sense of humor. The two participated in San Francisco History Days at the Old Mint; an annual event that offers the public a chance to explore the City’s past within the walls of the historic building, bringing together history groups from throughout the City. Johnston dressed as a goat for history night because the animal is a symbol for Potrero Hill. 

“She was definitely a fun person and liked to help people and be involved,” he said. 

Johnston stayed engaged with the Hill even after she and Fotter moved to the Mission in 1985. 

“She called it ‘Baja Potrero Hill,’” Linenthal said. “It was her personal nickname for the Mission, which really showed her affection for Potrero Hill.”

In addition to her passion as a historian, she was a near-obsessive puzzle master. Wordle and crosswords were a steady diet in her life, Fotter said. They also used to backpack and vacation in the mountains and along the coast. 

“Abby made quite an impression on people,” Fotter said. “I’m reminded of that every day with notes and phone calls. She had a special effect on people.”