In August of 2006, UNM Continuing Education instructor and self-employed computer consultant Mark Justice Hinton was given a task that at first glance would require a Sisyphusian effort. But, unlike the Greek myth, Hinton did not have to push a boulder up a mountain for all of eternity.
Photo: Mark Hinton
That might have been too easy for him.
Hinton was asked by Wiley Publications creators of the popular “For Dummies” series of books to write “PC Magazine Windows Vista Solutions,” a how-to about Microsoft’s new Vista operating system. The original author could not meet his deadlines and Wiley needed an author who knew computers and could work quickly.
Hinton, who was originally the book’s technical editor, accepted the challenge. The deadline schedule gave Hinton eight weeks to run through test versions of Vista and submit the first draft. Not counting edits and rewrites, he had to average over 60 pages a week to complete the initial draft on time, then he had to edit and rewrite sections. Hinton took time away from teaching and working to devote himself fully to his endeavor.
“I had to give up several classes,” Hinton said. “I put off a few other clients and worked on the book 12 hours a day, 6 days a week from late August until New Year’s Eve.”
While he was asked to start and complete this book at the last minute, Hinton has the background and experience with computers, and Microsoft in particular, to make the book successful.
“I started working with personal computers around 1981,” Hinton said. “During these years, I discovered an aptitude for teaching co-workers how to use various programs.”
Hinton previously worked as the Data Processing Manager for the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C. It was there that he was part of the team that developed a membership and donor system for the organization.
Upon moving to New Mexico in 1984 he started PC Training and Consulting, his computer consulting business. He also made connections that landed him a teaching job at the Albuquerque Technical-Vocational Institute.
In 1987, Hinton also started teaching at UNM Continuing Education. He teaches classes in Microsoft Windows, blogging, Web site design, and Web site maintenance. His class schedule can be located on the UNM Continuing Education Web site.
Computers might not be the only topic Hinton finds himself writing about someday. A man with many interests, Hinton rolled around the thought of other books that he would like to put fingers to keyboard and tap out one day.
“If I could write about anything, it would combine my love of wilderness and photography,” Hinton said. “Then, a volume of poems.”
But for now, Hinton has returned to his consulting job and working at Continuing Education - stoking the original fire that led him down the path to his first published book. And proving a point that a computer is more than just a box, with a monitor and a keyboard attached to it.
“I want to help people get more out of their computers and enjoy them more.”
Media Contact: Benson Hendrix, (505) 277-1816; e-mail: bhendrix@unm.edu
Posted by scarr at July 5, 2007 11:57 AM