Believing in Magic

In her poignant and touching memoir, Cookie Johnson, wife of NBA icon Earvin “Magic” Johnson, shares for the first time how her husband’s HIV diagnosis twenty-five years ago sent her life and marriage in a frightening new direction.

On November 7, 1991, basketball legend Magic Johnson stunned the world with the news that he was HIV-positive. For the millions who tuned in as he shared his news, Magic’s revelation became a seminal moment for the nation. Now twenty-five years later, Cookie Johnson shares her story and the emotional journey that started on that day—from life as a pregnany and joyous newlywed to one filled with the fear that her husband would die, she and her baby would, too, be infected with the virus, and their family would be shunned. Believing in Magic is far more than Cookie’s account of surviving that trauma; it is the story of her marriage with Earvin and the nearly three decades of loving each other, losing their way, and eventually finding a path they never imagined they’d take.

Cookie Johnson is a devoted philanthropist and, as Secretary of the Board of Directors for the Magic Johnson Foundation, a passionate spokesperson whose focus is on addressing the health, social, and educational needs of underserved communities. She joins her husband, Earvin “Magic” Johnson, in the fight against HIV/AIDS by spreading the word on ways to help reduce new HIV infections in underserved communities, educating minority women about the disease, and providing helpful tools for prevention and testing. The Michigan State University graduate lives with her husband in California; she is the mother to their three children, Andre, Earvin Johnson III (EJ), and Elisa. She is the author of Believing in Magic.

Denene Millner is a New York Times bestselling author and award-winning journalist who has written more than twenty-five books, including Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man, cowritten with Steve Harvey, among others. She has written for a plethora of national publications, including Essence, Women’s Health, Ebony, Redbook, and more. The founder and editor of MyBrownBaby.com, a website dedicated to Black parenting, lives in Atlanta with her husband and two daughters.