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| Vigilante |
You
never know who you will meet in a book store. We'll just call him
“Dave” since I am not sure if he would want his real name
used. After seeing each other a few times we began to talk since it
was obvious we were both avid readers. We have discussed just general
topics for probably well over a year now but I didn't know his
background until last Saturday.
He
knew I write a blog and asked me the basics of starting one. His
profession was as a technical writer (this I knew) and he was
considering writing a blog publishing some of his material from the
past. This was what started the conversation about his past, when I
asked exactly what a technical writer is.
He
wrote the technical manual for the Air Force Minuteman rocket. He was
told to write to an eighth grade level right down to telling when
they are to push a button they are to also release it after pushing.
He also wrote the operating manual for the A-3-J Vigilante.
The
Apollo rocket was another area of involvement for him, being involved
in writing the on-pad manual for the launch. He would compile all the necessary information then put it together in manual form.
He
also was a technical writer for several Rockford companies and had a
published magazine before his retirement. He is just a little older
than I. I knew he was a smart guy but had no idea he had such an
interesting background.
Ken