Viola Johnson is a beloved figure in the Leather Community. A forty-something year old leatherwoman and vampire, she has been out of the closet and active for over two decades as an activist, writer, and educator. She lives in the northeast as a member of a triad and is devoted to her family. She is slave and wife of Jill Carter, 1996 International Ms. Leather, 2000 Pantheon of Leather's Woman of the Year, and husband to Queen Cougar. Her mates are also remarkable women celebrated in the community. Her extended leather family is enormous. She has been dubbed "mother" by a whole generation of leather men and women.

Vi describes herself as a "...lifestyle slave. I have spent twenty years as the property of a few very special women. I have loved them, laughed with them, learned from them, and served them.  My slavery is a total commitment based on love."

From her journals kept while living as a slave and vampire, V.M. Johnson authored two autobiographical books published by Mystic Rose Books. They are Dhampir, Child of The Blood and To Love, To Obey, To Serve, Diary of an Old Guard Slave.  Her work has been published in Some Women (the Anthology) and various leather magazines. She is published in Dominant Mistique, BLIC, Passion, The Link, Black Mistress Review, Black Amazon Digest, Ouch, Obeya, and Bitches with Whips

Her activities in the leather community has included membership and positions in the following organizations:

Leather Archives and Museum (board member)

Lesbian Sex Mafia (host)

National Leather Association International (board member, National Advisory Council)

Pantheon of Leather (board member)

The Toolbox Technicians (founding member, vice president)

Tulsa Uniform Leather Seekers Association (vice-president)

Leather and Lace (secretary, newsletter, and mediation council)

Western Uniform Leather Fellowship

Females in Search of Trouble (Fist -Oklahoma) (charter member).

Her lifetime of service has been recognized by numerous certificates of appreciation and awards including Pantheon of Leather Lifetime Achievement Award 1995, National Leather Association Lifetime Achievement Award 1995, Oklahoma's Honorary Leather Mother, and Pantheon of Leather Couple of the Year 1998 (with spouses Jill Carter and Queen Cougar. She has been the only person to win both NLA and Pantheon’s lifetime achievement awards in one year. She is the originator of the "Unsung Hero" Award that is presented by the family around the country. Articles about Viola have appeared in many periodicals such as Drummer, The Leather Journal, 2002, Passion, Black Leather In Color, and The Link.

She has been a workshop presenter since 1989 at events, clubs and organizations around the country including Thunder on the Mountain, Dressing For Pleasure, Black Rose, Master and Slaves Together, and Living In Leather. Vi has conducted classes on a mélange of S/M, leather, and fetish related topics from the use of the bullwhip to lifestyle relationship issues. Reaching out to those outside the scene she has shared her knowledge at more conventional venues including Newark State College, Orange Coast College, Bard College, Bryn Mawr College, Barnard College, and Oklahoma State University.

Vi Johnson, vampire, is a proud member of the Illuminati who was birthed at 12 and made before the age of 17. For over a quarter of a century she and the intimate members of her feeding circle enjoyed the peaceful existence of ordinary blood drinkers until accidentally outed in 1989 by a younger vampyre seeking a role model.

Since then she has been sought out by an ever-increasing number of orphans and hapless progeny who seek her advice when their own makers are not to be found. In Late 1994, after almost 27 years in the kinship she decided to procreate for the first time. Now she has a daughter and a son of the blood who are the pride and joy of her life.

A recognized elder within the "Illuminatti" and other clans Viola heads her own house, and has been given the title Mother out of respect for her wisdom and standing.

Viola,

Dhampir of Abba (Allen)

progeny of Alistair

progeny of James

progeny of Samuel

Clan of Lilith

She became a Keeper of the Law (by the prescribed rites of the Illuminatti) on the celebration of her first making, and a Singular Feeder, as designated by her Maker, on her twenty-first birthday.

She is an Anchor to many left abandoned by their own Sires, and a clan teacher for almost fifteen years. Accidentally outed in 1989, Viola has given workshops around the country speaking on the vampyre lifestyle.

Her first Beloved Vessel, betrothed to her in childhood and trained by her Maker succumbed to a massive heart attack. He exited this life in 1987. In 1997 Viola joined the ranks of the Golden Circle when she took into vampiric partnership her most Beloved Vessel. Their blood-bond is visibly celebrated in the crystal bottles of vitae they both wear.

In 1994 she met the woman who was to become her first dhampir. The journey of this "Cub" from birth through Singular Feeder to Keeper of the Law is documented through Viola's eyes in her book "Dhampir, Child of the Blood", available through Mystic Rose Press. Viola made her second dhampir in 1996 and is proud of his accomplishments as keeper of the family web page, http://www.Dhampir.com

In October of 1997 Viola entered into the ranks of the Keepers of the Ashes with the death of her sire at the age of 87.