Don Crabb ^(r.i.p.)

Sun-Times, WGN-AM - COMPUTER EXPERT

After being hospitalized since December, Don Crabb passed away Saturday, February 26, 2000. 

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Cass School District 63 Technology Education Fund, 8502 Bailey Road, Darien, IL 60561. 

A Brief Professional Biography 

Computer Scientist. Don Crabb is the Associate Director of Graduate and Undergraduate Studies in Computer Science, Departmental Counselor, Director of Instructional Laboratories, and a Senior Lecturer at The University of Chicago, where he has taught undergraduate, graduate, and professional computing and computer science courses since 1979. Don also teaches professional publishing courses for the University's Extension. In his academic roles Don functions as an certified instructional software developer for Microsoft, IBM, SGI, Apple, and Sun. Trained as an historian as well as a computer scientist, Don specializes in enpowering humanities and liberal arts students with a critical understanding of computer science, computer programming and digital technologies. 

Columnist. Don is also the Chicago Sun-Times Computer Columnist and a technology writer, writing the column "Crabb on Computers," which is syndicated by the Chicago Sun-Times Features Syndicate into 253 papers, as well as special features and articles. "Crabb on Computers" appears in the Sun-Times Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday "Connected" sections, and daily in the Chicago Sun-Times Online (www.suntimes.com). Don's "Home Tech" column appears in the Chicago Sun-Times Friday "HomeLife" section and daily in the Chicago Sun-Times Online. Don writes special features for the MoneyLife, HomeLife, and Arts sections of the Chicago Sun-Times. Don is also the Computer Columnist for The Springfield-Union News (Massachusetts), where his column appears on Mondays, and the NorthWest Arkansas Times, where it appears on Sundays. 

Don works as a Contributing Editor, Columnist, or Contributing Writer for Digital Chicago ("Don's Desktop" column, features, and reviews), MacWorld Magazine ("The Mac Workshop" column, features, and reviews), PC Magazine (features and reviews), Syllabus ("Technologically-Speaking" column), MacTech ("Crabb's Apple" column), Win95User ("Alternate View" column), MacToday ("Present at the Creation" column), ComputerUser ("Computer Culture" column), Query ("The Organizational Mac" column), The Higher Education Product Companion ("Ask Don" column and reviews), IDG's Netware Internet Journal (features and column),The Weigand Report ("Don Crabb Says" column), IDG's PowerBook Companion Journal ("Traveling Mac" column), CompuServe Magazine (features), GWK2 Magazine (features), Mobile Offiice and Communications (features and reviews), IDG's Do It With the Mac Journal ("Macinations" column), IDG's TipWorld: Crustacean-at-Large (sole columnist), IDG's PowerBook Companion ("PowerTalk" column), MacHome Journal ("The Last Word" column and features), Consumer Guide (reviews), Talk City ("Chatting With Crabb" column), MacCentral ("The Mac Manager," "Crabb's Apple", "Optimize Your Mac," and "The Rumor Reality Report" columns), Abbott Systems ("Don Direct" and "Steamed Crabb" columns), Casady & Greene ("Dongeness Crabb" column), The University of Chicago Maroon ("Viewpoints" column), and Don Crabb Online ("Fresh Crabb" column). 

Don was a contributing editor, columnist, and consulting editor for BYTE, and a contributing editor and review board member for InfoWorld . Don was also a frequent contributor to Corporate Computing magazine. 

Since 1979, Don has written over 4,000 articles and columns for these magazines and newspapers, as well as others for PC World, PC Resource, Windows Magazine, MicroCAD News, MacUSER, ComputerWorld, The New York Times, UniSIG News, Digital Review, UnixWorld, The Chicago Tribune, The Macintosh Business Review, and Chicago Computing. 

Senior Editor. Don is the Senior Editor for Digital Chicago. 

Book Series Editor/Author. Don has edited and developed numerous textbooks on object-oriented programming for humanists, databases, and integrated software. His recent trade press books include MacWEEK Guide to System 7 (Emeryville: Ziff-Davis Press, 1992-4), Running UNIX So it Doesn't Run You (Emeryville: Ziff-Davis Press, 1993-4),The Guide to Macintosh System 7.5.5 (Indianapolis: Hayden Books/MacMillan Publishing/Apple Press, 1994-1996),The Guide to Mac OS 7.6 (Indianapolis: Hayden Books/MacMillan Publishing/Apple Press, 1997), Web Publishing with Filemaker 4.0 for Mac and Windows (with Jeff Gagne) (IDG/M&T Books, 1997-8), and The Complete Macintosh Resource Book (Hayden Books/MacMillan Publishing, 1997). 

Don was the senior consulting editor for books published by Hayden Books, and the series editor of The Don Crabb Macintosh Library. The Word Book by Tanya Engst, Mastering NetScape by Greg Holden, The Excel Book by Charles Seiter, The PowerPC Starter Kit by Tom Thompson The PowerMac Programming Starter Kit and The PowerPC Programming Kit by Tom Thompson, QuickTime: The Official Guide for Macintosh Users by Judith L. Stern and Robert A. Lettieri, Publishing on the World Wide Web by Greg Holden, Tricks of the Macintosh Game Programming Gurus, The Macintosh Programming Starter Kit by Jim Trudeau, MacWEEK Upgrading and Repairing Your Mac by Lisa Lee, and The WebServer Construction Kit ,among other titles, were published in The Don Crabb Macintosh Library. 

Don is also an editor and contributing writer of the sixth and seventh editions of PeachPit Press's Macintosh Bible. 

TV Producer and Personality. Don appears each Thursday morning as the computer and Internet correspondent for Fox Thing in the Morning on WFLD Fox 32 TV and separately on the Fox News Channel. Don was the coproducer, cohost, and technical editor of the weekly syndicated cable MacTV show, now in reruns. He was also a frequent guest co-host of PCTV, a syndicated cable weekly TV show dealing with all kinds of computing topics. Don has also appeared as a technology analyst on a number of local and national television news programs over the past fifteen years, including Chicago Tonight, The Aaron Freeman Show, The Jim Lehrer News Hour, The Today Show, Fox-32 Morning News, NBC Nightly News, The Larry King Show, CNN Headline News, CNN Evening News Hour, CBS Evening News, Channel 2 News, Channel 5 News, Channel 7 News, and others. 

Radio Personality. Don's radio show, wgnradio.com, can be heard each Saturday night from 10:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. Central Time, on WGN - AM 720 (The Tribune Broadcasting Corporation) and via RealAudio at www.wgnradio.com. Don also appears weekly on the Steve and Johnnie Show on WGN - AM 720, and is the featured computer and technology commentator on the Bob Collins and Spike O'Dell shows, also on WGN. Don also appears regularly on the Odyssey program on National Public Radio. Over the past fifteen years Don has appeared regularly on the Steve Dahl show on WCKG-FM 105.9 and on many other radio shows on WLUP - FM 97.9, WLS - AM 890, WBBM - AM 780, WMAQ - AM 670, WNUA - FM 95.5, and WBEZ - FM 91.5. 

Newsletter Editor. Don is the editor-in-chief for newsletters published SOAK Communications, including The Crabb Report. 

Analyst. As a computer industry analyst, Don has been extensively-quoted in Business Week, Forbes, Fortune, Time, Newsweek, Money, The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, and other publications. 

Speaker. Don regularly gives keynote addresses and chairs panels at computer industry expositions and conferences, as well as at corporate meetings and functions. 

Don has covered topics as diverse as "The Consultants View of Object-Oriented Software Development", "Managing Mixed Networks", "The Arts of Computing," "All About Modems", "Networks: Real and Imagined", "The Real Value of the IBM/Apple Alliance", "Operating System Wars", "The New Apple", " The Trivium, the Quadrivium, and Computer Science," "Where's the Line?: The Vanishing Differences Between PCs and Workstations", "The Truth about Small Business Computing", "Multimedia Truths and Multimedia Myths", "Developing a Mobile Computing Strategy", "The Real PowerPC Reveled," "Wireless Myths vs. Wireless Solutions", "PowerBook Communications," "CPU Strategies", "Assessing Operating Systems," "Academic Computing: Visions vs. Realities, Are They Really Different?", and "The Networking Big Picture for the Nineties." 

Don has been a speaker and consultant for institutions as different as the Sara Lee Corporation, ACI, Antioch College, Comark, Notre Dame University, IBM Corporation, Claris Corporation, The Rest of Us, MacWorld Expo, The University of Wisconsin, PC Expo, Ameritech, Cybertel, MacShow, Comdex, Mactivity, Varian, Apple Computer, Inc., Western Michigan University, The NorthWest of Us, Intel Corporation, Northwestern University, The Apple Worldwide Developer's Conference, Winehouse Computing, "HolderBank", AppleCider User Group, Farallon, The Consumer Electronics Show, The University of Cincinnati, CE Software, Intel Corporation, The Indiana Apple User Group, MontClair State College, MacFair LA, The Los Angeles Macintosh User's Group, and Cayman Systems. 

Consultant. Besides his teaching, writing, broadcasting, and speaking, Don does extensive marketing, UNIX, PC, Macintosh, networking, database, desktop publishing, instructional, and CAD consulting for Chicago-area and San Francisco Bay Area companies. He also specializes in helping small businesses get their technology needs under control and large businesses in rethinking and reworking their current operations. 

Advisor. In addition to his teaching, speaking, research, broadcasting, writing, and consulting activities, Don is a member of the advisory boards of the MacWorld Expo, Mactivity, and MacSummit, as well as PC Expo, InterOp, and Comdex. Don is the Executive Director of the Apple Computer, Inc., Customer Advisory Boards (CAB). In addition, Don is a technology advisor to the Old Town School of Folk Music - Chicago's leading not-for-profit music school, and an industry advisor for the Chicago Software Association's IT Workforce Shortage Solutions Conference. Don is also the co-state-chair (with Alberto Ruocco) of the Illinois Tech Corps. 

Memberships and Affiliations. More information about Don's current journalistic activities can be found in MediaMap , the Computer Media Guide, and Who's Who. Don is a member of the Computer Press Association, the Writer's Guild, the Association for Computing Machinery, The Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers, The Digital Equipment Computer User's Society, the Society for Information Technology, The Chicago Software Association, The Information Technology Association of America, The American Historical Association, The Medieval Society of America, and other professional societies.