RE: poets as tech writers and programmers

[Stuart Burnfield <sburnf -at- au1 -dot- ibm -dot- com>]

There was a lively thread on a similar topic back in December 1997.
There had been an article in the Washington Post about a TW shop
that made a point of hiring young, liberal arts grads (including
poets) to fix the perceived failings of jaded old specialists:

"Rather than technical writers, who Weber said were too
entrenched in both the subject matter and in the old formats,
the firm turned to liberal arts graduates.

Peter Beaupre, 21, with a bachelor's degree in classical studies
from Duke University, impressed Weber in his job interview by
describing how he had set part of the "Iliad," in ancient Greek,
to an original piece of music written in the style of German
composer Robert Schumann. "

The original article is no longer available (unless you pay)
but there's a very brief teaser here:
http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/44780708.html?dids=44780708:44780708&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&fmac=&date=Dec+15%2C+1997&author=Evans%2C+Sandra&desc=Step+One%3A+Take+Poetic+License+With+Technical+Writing

An example of the techwhirlers' response is here:
http://www.techwr-l.com/techwhirl/archives/9712/techwhirl-9712-00645.html

(From memory this guy was always sensible and witty,
and had a full head of hair back then.)

Stuart

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