One more thing…
Prospect Sierra School (then just plain old Sierra) is where I first laid hands on a computer… and it’s where I learned, through the years, how the same Apple box that allowed me to die of dysentery on the Oregon Trail and track down Carmen Sandiego could also let me draw (KidPix!), write, research (remember CD-ROM encyclopedias?) and explore.
Later on, I became a full-on Mac geek, working the Berkeley Macintosh Users Group Helpline, fixing the innards of SE-30s and oohing and aahing at the “wicked fast” 40MHz IIfx. Video card failures, SCSI conflicts, extension implosions - I could fix them all. Even had my very own stainless steel “Mac-Cracker” (anyone remember those?)
As a journalist at The Advocate, Macs made my work possible - and fun, when the tired old OS 9 G3 towers weren’t crashing. I researched and wrote our lead 9/11/01 story on a Bondi Blue OG iMac. Later, as a PR rep for GAINSCO Bob Stallings Racing, I began my yet-unbroken string of powerful, beautiful and bulletproof Apple laptops… the one I’m typing on now is nearing its third birthday, still going strong. On them, I’ve created championship press releases, mile-long term papers, nail-biting sports reports and wing-and-a-prayer graduate school applications.
I’m making a modest donation to Prospect Sierra tonight, in memory of the man whose products helped make all that possible. I think it’s the best way I can remember and honor what his legacy means to me.
