The LA Fox Developer Newsletter

March 1996

Gone too Soon

The Passing of Tom Rettig

by Barry R. Lee

Tom Rettig passed away on Thursday, February 15, 1996.

When word of his death broke the next day, all kinds of threads

and messages of condolence were flying around on Compu-

Serve. His memorial/burial service took place on Thursday,

February 22, at one his favorite spots, Shanghai Red’s in Marina

del Rey, across the channel from where his office was.

To those of us who knew him, no matter at what level, Tom

represented the type of person we all wanted to be: open,

honest, warm, communicative, always ready to help and provide

advice. The fact that he was one of the top so-called “gurus” of

our profession only added icing to the cake.

Tom was what many call a “Rennaissance Man”. His interests

and careers took many turns over the course of his life, or

“lives” as one his sons put it. He immersed himself in whatever

role or technology he happened to be in at the time. As a child

movie star, he became famous for his role as Jeff Miller in the

“Lassie” TV series and starred with Marilyn Monroe in “River of

No Return”, as well as others. Later on in life, he ran afoul of

the law but got his life back on track. The tabloids and the rest

of the media have had a hayday with his passing.

Tom was my friend. But then again, everyone whoever met him,

whether it was face-to-face, over the phone, or on CompuServe,

could say that. He had a quality, a talent for making you feel

important . . .almost an equal... and that any question you

asked, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant, received

his attention. Many people in the xBase developer community

owe their beginnings and eventual success to Tom. He seemed

to be a permanent fixture at developer conferences, product

announcements, and on the Fox Forum. I can remember going

to dDay Fair in 1993 and seeing him in a full beard. When I

asked him about it, he answered sort of offhandedly, almost

joking, that he wasn’t going to shave it off until the next release

of Tom Retting's Office (TRO).

His memorial service gave only a slight glimpse of all the

people’s lives he touched. It was a hodgepodge of humanity.

Tony Dow (“Wally” from the old “Leave It to Beaver” series, Paul

Petersen from “The Donna Reed Show”, Tom’s sidekick Porky

from “Lassie”, Roger Clinton, Bob Weatherwax, his friends

(ironically, his next door neighbor, was named Jeff Miller), a

multitude of developers, and his family. (Bob Weatherwax’s

father, Rod, was the original trainer of a long series of Lassies.

When he retired, his son Bob took over the business. So Bob

and Tom sort of grew up together. He was there with the

“newest” Lassie. Paul Petersen now heads a child actor

supportgroup.)

The memorial service was very moving. We heard his sons talk

about their relationship with their father, sometimes stormy but

never completely out of touch, Tom’s lost childhood, and his

renewai of iove ana committment. Ellen Sander reaa condo-

lences and remembrances of Tom from developers around the

country. Paul Petersen reminisced about his relationship with

Tom and of how child actors never really have a childhood of

their own. Susan Graham spoke of Tom’s early days with

Ashton-Tate and his continued commitment to the developer

community. When it was over, the family and a few close

friends boarded Bob Weatherwax’s boat, and motored out to the

ocean to scatter Tom’s ashes back to the world.

Tom Rettig had a rather amazing life. Through it all, he never

lost that boyish charm, that sense of amazement and wonder.

You could see it in his eyes. But he was gone too soon.

Out and About (Con't from page 2)

Function Age( varStartDate As Variant, varEndDate as

Variant)

Dim varYrs As Variant

varYrs = DateDiff(”yyyy”, varStartDate, varEndDate)

If varEndDate < DateSerial(Year(varEndDate),

Month(varStartDate),

Day(varStartDate)) Then

varYrs = varYrs -1

End If

Age = varYrs

End Function

Internet Wars Heat Up. Not to be outdone, Netscape, who

controls approximately 85% of the browser market, has struck

deals with Compuserve, America Online (AOL), AT&T,

Prodigy, and others to license their Navigator software in an

effort to keep pace and stay ahead of Microsoft, who currently

controls only 7.5% share of the market. Expect to see these

online services offering free copies of the Navigator soon. AT&T

has also announced plans to provide Internet access free to its

customers for the first year of service, followed by a $20 per

month fee. As we went to press, Microsoft announced that it,

too, had cut a deal with AOL and is actively pursuing other

avenues for its Internet browser product called The Internet

Explorer. Microsoft will be bundling AOL with its future versions

of Windows 95. Many industry analysts are suggesting that

Microsoft’s credibility is in question due to their failure to deliver

on time. Meanwhile, Microsoft is undergoing a reorganization

that will strengthen its ability to develop Internet-related applica-

tions in a more timely fashion. In another set of hectic negotia-

tions, Microsoft completed a deal with Sun Microsystems on a

license for the Java WebSite technology so that their developers

could begin developing a Java-based programming language

called Jakarta.

Tech Ed, in LA, sponsored by Microsoft, will be April 15-19,

1996, just in time to conflict with DB-Expo (in San Francisco).

Cost of the event will be $1195, if registration is received by

March 1, $1395 after. So start saving your pennies. For info,

__________

(Con’t, page 4)

Page 3