For as long as I can remember, I have always been a letter writer. If I had a question, I would write a letter. If I wanted some information, I would write a letter. I remember being about thirteen or fourteen and my father wanted to know where a good place would be to hunt or fish or some such information so he asked me to write the letter.

When I was in college, I continued to write letters. I also became a huge fan of the HP-41C. I had become an HP fan in high school when I got the new HP-28C which I used through my first two years of college. In 1980 I got the HP-41C. I was also a lifelong space enthusiast so when I read that the HP-41C was used on the Space Shuttle with minor modifications, I wrote HP asking about the modifications. My questions were answered in the newsletter HP Key Notes. The answer to this specific question can be found in Volume 5, Number 2, May 1981 on page 14.

I also grew fairly proficient at [programming the HP-41 and wrote a program to help with my senior design project. Because I put so much time in developing the program I submitted it to the HP programming competition and actually won a prize. Notice of that prize is in HP Key Notes Volume 6, Number 3, page 6, June 1982.

Other issues of HP Key Notes can be found here.