On Johndan
Cindy Selfe (Facebook reminiscing)

Johndan was the very first PhD student I advised. He was razor smart, always funny, so often original in his thinking. He helped pave the way for others in the field of computers and composition, even during the very first stages of his career. He was among the very best Michigan Tech had to offer and a gift to the profession He was a friend, always. I still hear his voice, and the depth of sadness his loss entails is staggering. ✌

---

When he was a student in one of my early undergrad Scientific and Technical Communication (STC) classes, he told me his name was "John Eilola." In the next class he took with me, he said his name was "Dan Eilola."

"Do you have a twin brother?" I asked.

He settled on "Johndan" and enrolled in our new graduate program.

When he married Kelly Johnson, the very first staff member in our Center for Computer-Assisted Language Instruction (CCLI), he became Johndan Johnson-Eilola. Always an original. ✌

In response to that post, Kate Latterell posted this: "Cynthia L. Selfe ahem, wait, I know this story. He went by his middle name, Danny, because his Dad is John. In college he answered to both John and Danny. But then he arrives in your classes Cindy, and you kept getting after him to choose. When he didn't, you christened him Johndan. He was Johndan forever after!"