LANGE JOHNSON & THE WHIRLWIND JOHNSON FOUNDATION, CONTRIBUTOR AND ORGANIZATION

  

 

Lange grew up in a family of tennis movers and shakers.  His grandfather, the late Dr. Robert W. Johnson, paved the way for talented African American tennis players to become international tennis players but use tennis as a medium to be successful in their professional endeavors.  Dr. J. hosted a tennis boot camp at his home in Lynchburg, Virginia for over three decades and hand-picked the players to spend summers training and competing in USTA and ATA tournaments.  Dr. J. took time away from his thriving medical practice to quietly but with determination integrate the sport of tennis.  Lange's father, Robert W. Johnson was the former head tennis coach at Howard University.  

 

Lange and his four siblings were benefactors of his grandfather's coaching, mentoring and all became successful ranked players in the DMV.  In 2007, Dr. J. was nominated as an inductee to the International Hall of Fame but denied access.  In 2009, Lange and his brother Julian (now deceased) were instrumental in driving the induction of Dr. J. into the ITHOF in Newport, RI.  This was long overdue, but they presented a compelling email to the Board of the ITHOF stressing the need to make this happen for Dr. J., but presenting the case that to deny him again would be egregious.  After all, both Althea Gibson and Arthur Ashe had been inducted long before their infamous coach.  The email was a turning point into Dr. Johnson's induction to the ITHOF in 2009.

 

Over the years, Lange continued to play competitive tennis, winning many tournaments in the ATA, USTA, CVITT tournament in Lynchburg, Virginia.  However, in 2015 he created the Whirlwind Johnson Foundation whose mission is to preserve the legacy of Dr. Robert W. Johnson and create an environment to restore his home and tennis court for future tennis and education programs on the historic court where other talented and accomplished African American players trained.

 

Lange collaborated with many organizations along the way, but his relationship with the USTA enabled him to have Dr. J.'s tennis court restored and completed in 2017. The ceremony for the court restoration included Katrina Adams (former USTA Chair) and Todd Martin (ITHOF CEO) along with former players from the Junior Development Team.

 

Lange passed away on March 28, 2022.