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| Olen & Nancy, May, 2000 | |
About-Baker: Some of you may remember that I was the class nerd - the "Bookworm of the Class of '63." Well, my wife, Nancy, has a magnet on the fridge that says "Love a Nerd!" I haven't changed!
After-Baker: I spent the rest of the '60's studying math and physics at Emory University in Atlanta. I took undergraduate and graduate degrees in physics just in time for the technical down swing of the early '70's when those with science and engineering degrees, so much in demand a year or two before, were now lucky to get any kind of job. I was fortunate to land a teaching position and remained in that profession for nearly two decades, first in high school for a few years, then at the college level.
At various times, I taught math, astronomy, chemistry, physics, and, eventually, computer science. While at Emory, I had learned the operation and programming of several computer systems, a skill that would serve me well in that I eventually evolved almost entirely into that field, teaching a little and running a college computer system. Simultaneously, I began to fulfill a life-long ambition to write. In 1986, I published a college-level textbook, Programming with BASIC, with McGraw-Hill.
About that same time, my vision began to grow much worse, and I shortly thereafter left teaching to write full time. I have since published several more books on computers and the Internet including two buyer's guides with Consumer Reports Books.
In 1992, I met Nancy and soon left my long-standing bachelorhood behind for a very happy marriage. After more than two decades of working long, long hours, Nancy and I decided to quit chasing the proverbial, ever elusive rat and moved to a quieter place and life. Though we spend several years buried in the western North Carolina mountains, we now live in Chattanooga, TN and are very happy here.
My legacy to future generations is to forget the gold at the end of the rainbow and just enjoy the rainbow. The earlier in your life you learn this, the happier you will be.
July, 2006
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