Baron, Robert C. 1934–

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Baron, Robert C. 1934–

PERSONAL: Born January 26, 1934, in Los Angeles, CA; son of Leo Francis and Marietta (Schulze) Baron; married Faye Helen Rogers, January 26, 1961 (divorced 1984); married Charlotte Rose Persinger, November 29, 1986; stepchildren: Brett, Kristen. Education: St. Joseph's College, B.S., 1956.

ADDRESSES: Home—Denver, CO. Office—Fulcrum Publishing, Ste. 300, 16100 Table Mountain Pkwy., Golden, CO 80403-1672.

CAREER: RCA, Camden, NJ, engineer, 1955–57; Computer Control Co., Framingham, MA, engineer, 1959–61, program manager for Mariner II and Mariner IV space computers, 1961–65, engineering manager,1965–69; Honeywell Minicomputer, Framingham, worldwide systems manager, 1970–71; Prime Computer, Framingham, founder, president, and chief executive officer, 1971–75; in private practice in Boston, MA, 1976–83; Fulcrum Publishing, Golden, CO, founder and president, 1984–, and member of board of directors. Member of board of directors for Prime Computer, Framingham; Alling-Lander, Cheshire, CT; and Oxion, Hugoton, KS. Lincoln Filene Center, Tufts University, Medford, MA, trustee, 1982–84; Rocky Mountain Women's Institute, Denver, CO, member of board of directors, 1987–90; Denver Public Library Friends Foundation, member of board of directors, 1989–96, president, 1994–96; International Wilderness Leadership Foundation, member of board of directors, 1990, chair, 1994–2000, 2003. Robert C. Baron Annual Lecture Series established at the American Antiquarian Society, 2003.

MEMBER: American Antiquarian Society (member of board of directors and chair, 1993–2003), Thoreau Society, Western History Association, Hakluyt Society, Massachusetts Historical Society, Massachusetts Audubon Society (vice chair of board of directors), Grolier Club, Explorer's Club.

AWARDS, HONORS: Jack D. Rittenhouse Award, Publishers Association of the West, 2001; finalist, Eugene Emme Astronautical Literature Award, 2003, for What Was It Like, Orville?: The Early Space Program; finalist, Best Books of 2004 Awards, USA Book News and Pubinsider.com, both for Pioneers and Plodders: The American Entrepreneurial Spirit.

WRITINGS:

(With Albert T. Piccirilli) Digital Logic and Computer Operations, McGraw-Hill (New York, NY), 1967.

(Editor, with Elizabeth Darby Junkin) Of Discovery and Destiny: An Anthology of American Writers and the American Land, Fulcrum Publishing (Golden, CO), 1986.

(Editor and author of introduction) America, One Land, One People: Noted Historians Look at America, Fulcrum Publishing (Golden, CO), 1987.

(Editor) The Garden and Farm Books of Thomas Jefferson Fulcrum Publishing (Golden, CO), 1987.

(Editor and author of introduction) John Muir, The Mountains of California, Fulcrum Publishing (Golden, CO), 1988.

(Editor, with Edmund A. Schofield) Thoreau's World and Ours: A Natural Legacy, North American Press (Golden, CO), 1993.

(Editor) Jefferson the Man: In His Own Words, Fulcrum Publishing (Golden, CO)/Starwood Publishing (Washington, DC), 1993.

(Editor) Colorado Rockies: The Inaugural Season, 1993.

(With Samuel Scinta and Pat Staten) Twentieth-Century America: One Hundred Influential People, Fulcrum Publishing (Golden, CO), 1995.

(With Samuel Scinta) Twentieth-Century America: Key Events in History, Fulcrum Publishing (Golden, CO), 1996.

(Editor, with Stephen J. Leonard and Thomas J. Noel) Thomas Hornsby Ferril, Thomas Hornsby Ferril and the American West, Fulcrum Publishing (Golden, CO), 1996.

(With Thomas Locker) The Hudson: A Story of a River (for children), illustrated by Locker, Fulcrum Publishing (Golden, CO), 2004.

Pioneers and Plodders: The American Entrepreneurial Spirit, Fulcrum Publishing (Golden, CO), 2004.

Also author of Micropower Electronics, 1970; Footsteps on the Sands of Time, 1999; and What Was It Like, Orville?: The Early Space Program, 2002. Senior editor of Soul of America: Documenting Our Past, 1492–1974, Fulcrum Publishing (Golden, CO), 1989, published in two volumes, North American Press (Golden, CO), 1994. Author of over one hundred articles.

SIDELIGHTS: Robert C. Baron began his career as a computer engineer, and had the opportunity to be part of the American space program by managing the design of the on-board computers for the Mariner II and Mariner IV spacecraft. After serving as founder and president of Prime Computer in the early 1970s, his interests turned to publishing, and he founded Fulcrum Publishing in Golden, Colorado. In addition to heading this company, though, Baron has also indulged his interest in American history and environmental conservation by editing or coediting several books on these subjects, including Thoreau's World and Ours: A Natural Legacy, Jefferson the Man: In His Own Words, and America, One Land, One People: Noted Historians Look at America.

More recently, Baron has combined his interests in history and nature in a children's book titled The Hudson: A Story of a River. Tracing the story of this important American river back to its formation from melting Ice Age glaciers to the arrival of the first Native American tribes, Baron tells how the Hudson River was eventually used by European settlers, and how it suffered gravely from pollution during the twentieth century. The river might have become an inert sewer of polluted sludge had not environmentalists like Rachel Carson brought its plight to the public's attention.

Although School Library Journal reviewer Eva Elisabeth VonAncken felt that Baron's writing "is often too simplistic for the complicated ideas presented," Hazel Rochman asserted in her Booklist assessment that The Hudson "is an inspiring way to blend the American story with an environmental message."

Baron told CA: "Since I was a teenager, I have read at least two books a week. My reading habits are eclectic, learning from the ideas, experiences, and imagination of historians, biographers, novelists, humorists, and poets, and seeing how they expressed themselves. By reading Shakespeare, Dickens, Twain, Churchill, E. B. White, Red Smith, and many others, I have learned the beauty of the English language and the breadth of the human mind. During the same time, I have tried to write at least a few hours weekly, for my own benefit, and, occasionally, for that of others.

"My favorite of my books is Pioneers and Plodders: The American Entrepreneurial Spirit. I believe that the history of America is not a history of politicians and war, but one of jobs created, of industries born, and of leadership, both good and bad. How did the United States become what it is? It took thirty years to do the research and five to write the book. I hope others enjoy and learn from it."