Curtis (Curt)) Johnson

I worked in Chicago in publishing, and then in 1981, I got fed up with the heat in summer and the snow in winter and talked a friend into moving out west with me. We chose Seattle because we'd both been out there to visit, me with the Chicago Cavaliers Drum and Bugle corps for a national competition in August 1963.

I started out in legal textbook publishing, but then got a job as a technical editor at Microsoft. Eventually, I wanted to move up to being a writer, but that was very hard to do then.

So, in 1986, I quit and worked for Boeing as a technical writer, free lance. When that contract was up, I took jobs working on documentation at a bank and then back at Microsoft. In March 1990, Microsoft hired me as a full-time technical writer.

In December 1999, I retired and have been enjoying life and my various pursuits ever since. What are those pursuits? Here are some:

* Created and manage a website for a non profit group.
* Travel a lot -- went to the Paris Air Show in June 2013.
* Play snare drum and march with a drumming group in Seattle called 2nd Wind.
* Jog and work out with weights 6 days per week.
* Enter mid-distance running races (Since turning 60, I've won one 10-K race in Montreal and a 5K race in Copenhagen).
* Read voraciously -- love a good coffee house on a rainy day with a hot cup of coffee and a good book to read.
* Stay on top of technology, both with my computer and cell phone and with my car, with the latest gadgets.

That's for starters. . . .

We'd come back into Miriam Tunison's junior English class after a lunch break. Stan Hegberg and this girl, whose name I can't remember, were goofing around. Suddenly, Stan said loudly, "Now listen here, sister!"

Then I piped up: "Sister? Sister? If she were MY sister, I'd take her out in the woods and .... [pause] .... shoot her!"

Everybody, including Miss Tunison, cracked up laughing. When the laughter had died down, Miss Tunison said, "Boy, that sure was a pregnant pause!"