I worked with John for a few years in the 1990s. This was during the heyday of BBSes, when he joined our small team at Mustang Software after Mustang bought Qmodem. John moved to Bakersfield California (with his family, including OP!) to be with us. John left a few years later due to I think business differences with management.
John was personable and full of joy. He always loved a good joke. I remember the parties (not wild, we were pretty tame back then) we would have around the pool at his place. He was generous with his time.
The story of Qmodem itself was a bit different. Qmodem for DOS was a one-man shareware business and was John's pride and joy. It was clear that he poured everything into that program. It was finely tuned and just worked. Times were changing though, and people were calling for a Windows version. Unfortunately, John was not interested in learning Windows programming, so Scott Hunter (now at Microsoft), Dan Horn, and I built Qmodem for Windows. It was good, but it really never had the same level of polish that John's work did. It was "Qmodem" in name only.
After John left Mustang he also left Bakersfield and I lost touch with him. I'm sure he continued to make the people around him smile. Thank you for your time and contributions, John.
In the mid 1990's, as a teen, I once was hired to cold call a bunch of software companies to contribute to some non-profit, and I recall calling Mustang Software.
That was 30 years ago. I don't know who I talked to, but they were not too happy to have me on the phone lol. Sorry if that was you. and OP sorry about your father. I recall QModem well.
QModem was amazing software, and I was sad when Mustang bought it. I was happy to see a software company in Bakersfield, though, and continued to use it. Without it, I never would have come as far as I did.
My condolences to you and your family during this time. I am grateful for John's work and the pathway he paved for so many into this world.
John was personable and full of joy. He always loved a good joke. I remember the parties (not wild, we were pretty tame back then) we would have around the pool at his place. He was generous with his time.
The story of Qmodem itself was a bit different. Qmodem for DOS was a one-man shareware business and was John's pride and joy. It was clear that he poured everything into that program. It was finely tuned and just worked. Times were changing though, and people were calling for a Windows version. Unfortunately, John was not interested in learning Windows programming, so Scott Hunter (now at Microsoft), Dan Horn, and I built Qmodem for Windows. It was good, but it really never had the same level of polish that John's work did. It was "Qmodem" in name only.
After John left Mustang he also left Bakersfield and I lost touch with him. I'm sure he continued to make the people around him smile. Thank you for your time and contributions, John.