Susan Avis Bailey Johanson (; July 29, 1930 – June 28, 2023) was a Canadian registered nurse and sex educator. She operated a birth control clinic in Toronto and hosted a series of radio and television programmes on birth control, safer sex and sexual health. She also published several books and wrote a newspaper column promoting sexual health.
Biography
Early life and career
Johanson was born Susan Avis Bailey Powell in Toronto, Ontario, in 1930 to Wilfrid Powell, a decorated British war hero, and an affluent Ontario-born Irish Protestant mother, Ethel Bell. Her mother died when Johanson was ten. Soon after, she married a Swedish-Canadian electrician named Ejnor Johanson in 1953.
In 1970, Johanson opened a birth control clinic in Don Mills CI high school, the first of its kind in Canada. She continued her education at the Toronto Institute of Human Relations (a postgraduate course in counselling and communication), the University of Toronto (family planning), and the University of Michigan (human sexuality), graduating as a counsellor and sex educator.
Radio and television programs
Johanson first achieved popularity as a sex educator and therapist hosting her own show on rock radio station Q107 during the 1980s. The show, entitled Sunday Night Sex Show, transitioned into a TV talk show of the same name on the community television Rogers TV in 1985.
In January 2002, reruns of the show began to be replayed to American audiences on Oxygen Media.
Johanson made appearances on the Late Show with David Letterman, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and Late Night with Conan O'Brien.
Acting
Johanson appeared in two episodes of Degrassi Junior High and two episodes of Degrassi: The Next Generation. She played Dr. Sally, a radio host and sex educator who served as an in-universe version of Johanson.
Documentary
A full-length documentary about Johanson was released in 2022. Entitled Sex with Sue, the documentary chronicles Johanson's life story, directed by Canadian documentary filmmaker Lisa Rideout.
Death
Johanson died in Thornhill, Ontario, on June 28, 2023.
Books
Johanson was the author of three books: Talk Sex (), Sex Is Perfectly Natural but Not Naturally Perfect (), and Sex, Sex, and More Sex ().
Awards and honours
Johanson's work educating and informing the public about birth control and sexual health earned her Canada's second highest civilian honour after the Order of Merit, appointment to the Order of Canada as Member (CM) in 2001. In 2010, Johanson was presented with the Bonham Centre Award from the Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies for her contributions to the advancement and education of issues around sexual identification.