ELECTRICITY `WAR' VICTOR GIVEN HIS DUE IN L.A.

Byline: BRENT HOPKINS Staff Writer

SUNLAND -- If termites hadn't been eating his house, Edson Andre Johnson would not have launched his quest to save the world.

The year was 1979, and Johnson's home had bugs in the walls. Being a man of science, he decided to eradicate the pests methodically. The name Nikola Tesla meant nothing to him.

``I had this termite problem, so I went to the Funk & Wagnalls and turned to the wrong page,'' Johnson, 61, fondly recalled about the day that profoundly altered his existence. ``Right there, there was this little paragraph about Tesla. Like probably 99 percent of other Americans, I'd never heard of him before.''

The brief mention of the electrical pioneer enraptured him. He read more. He decided the other 99 percent would have to learn. From then on, he would do everything he could to make sure they did.

Tesla, born to Serbian parents on July 10, 1856, in what is now Croatia, has been described as brilliant, enigmatic, compulsive and a genius. An archrival to Thomas Alva Edison, he fought the ``War of the Currents,'' championing the benefits of alternating current over direct current and harnessing the mighty power of Niagara Falls to produce electricity.

This year, Tesla's fans celebrated the 150th anniversary of his birth worldwide. Statues were unveiled, airports were renamed, proclamations were issued and, in most places, he got some long-delayed kudos. That's not enough for Johnson, who believes everyone would benefit from a little more Tesla knowledge.

The inventor arrived in the United States nearly penniless in 1884, then went to work for Edison, who was trying to develop direct current as a power source. As so often happens among eccentric geniuses, the two fell out, quarreling over money. Tesla went on to make significant discoveries in radio, robotics, electric vehicles and, perhaps, a particle-beam weapon described as a ``death ray.'' He never forgave his one-time employer.

In addition, he had some habits than can charitably be described as unusual. When sitting for dinner, he demanded 100 linen napkins and managed to work through the entire stack before the final bite. Though germophobic, he loved city pigeons and trained them as pets. When he heard unexplained transmissions on his radio, the stern-faced Renaissance man believed he was communicating with aliens.

But Johnson didn't immediately know all that. All he knew, as he sat there with his encyclopedia, momentarily forgetting about his bug problem, was that this Tesla guy did some interesting stuff with electricity.

So he got some books, read up and decided that the Serb deserved more credit. He wrote a letter to his local newspaper, got it published and suddenly heard from other Tesla lovers. Johnson saw an opportunity for justice.

``The established scientific community always put him down,'' he said. ``He was brilliant, eccentric, and some of his followers say he was an alien -- which he never said he wasn't. So that's why the scientific establishment would never let him in. Edison was the homeboy; Tesla was the outsider.''

Johnson does not believe that his hero was, in fact, an alien, but allows that there is room for disagreement among fans. He maintains that Tesla was just an unfriendly, imperious kind of guy who didn't make friends easily and suffered from a lack of understanding by others who were in awe of his genius.

Though Johnson feels a kinship and concedes that he shares an eccentric streak with Tesla, the two bear little resemblance.

Tesla was dark-haired and favored conservative suits. Johnson has gray hair and wears wildly printed shorts and a safari hat. Tesla drove an electric car and lived in a hotel. Johnson zips about on an electric scooter and spends a lot of time hanging out in Sunland Park. He refers to himself as ``Dr. Johnson'' after obtaining the title online from the Universal Life Church, allowing him to perform marriages and burials.

``I noticed you get a lot more attention when you're called `doctor,''' Johnson said. ``I wanted more attention.''

By trade, he's a gardener and botanist, an expert in native plants and grasses. And, maybe because of his title or maybe because of his unrelenting verve, he has received that attention.

From his writings and talks promoting the inventor's legacy, Johnson became known to the Tesla Memorial Society, which elected him to its board. He has made a name for himself in the energy world. He even got the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to officially proclaim July 10, 2006, as Global Energy Independence Day in recognition of his passion for alternative energy.

``He's a very fine gentleman, very knowledgeable, lots of integrity,'' said Dr. Ljubo Vujovic, a physician and secretary general of the New York-based society. ``Like all people who deal with Tesla, he recognizes that Tesla hasn't been recognized enough. We're all like brothers, all fighting for his legacy. Day and night, all over the world, we're battling to preserve his glory.''

To keep that glory going, Johnson leads walks around Sunland Park, telling tales of the robot torpedo boat that his idol designed for the Navy during the Spanish-American War. He speaks of the inventor's friendship with Mark Twain. He tells of the Nazi and Communist Party spies who were after Tesla's ``death ray.''

If need be, he'll discuss the late 1980s pop-metal quintet that took its moniker from the man who held 270 patents but never got his due.

``I don't know if I'm a fan or not,'' Johnson said. ``I heard one recording and, well, it sounded like a rock band to me.''

His evangelism and expertise on power issues caught the eye of Sterling D. Allan, founder of the New Energy Congress. Though taken aback by the style of Johnson's e-mails, Allan thought he saw genius sprinkled among the run-on sentences.

``I don't know if he accidentally hits the caps lock halfway through, but the spelling's not there, the grammar's not there,'' Allan said. ``If that's the indication of a brilliant mind, he's way off the charts. There's a good chance that he's really, really brilliant, because good communication isn't on the top of his mind.''

No, the movie starring David Bowie as Tesla scheduled for release later this year is on top of Johnson's mind. So is the recently announced electric Tesla sports car that goes from zero to 60 in under four seconds. So is keeping Tesla's dreams of electric power for everyone in people's consciousness. If he can get enough people to believe as fervently as he, he thinks that maybe the world will end up a better place.

``My first name sounds like Edison,'' said Johnson, who was named Edson after his father, Ed. ``My last name's Johnson, and Tesla's best friend's last name was Johnson. I think that it was destined to be that I found him.''

brent.hopkins(at)dailynews.com

818-713-3738

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Photo:

Edson Andre Johnson holds his commendation from the county Board of Supervisors with a portrait of his hero, Nikola Tesla, at Sunland Park in Sunland.

Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer