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Eric Bangle
The Geeky Farm BoyA large portion of my childhood was spent in Hinkley, California a small town in the middle of the Mojave Desert. I was first introduced to computers (TRS-80) as a sixth grade stu...view moreThe Geeky Farm BoyA large portion of my childhood was spent in Hinkley, California a small town in the middle of the Mojave Desert. I was first introduced to computers (TRS-80) as a sixth grade student at the Desert Research Station and soon had my own Commodore 64 at home. I spent a lot of my free time studying aviation, fishing, traveling and going to air shows with my grandparents. Watching from my roof with a pair of binoculars I heard the first sonic boom of the Space Shuttle Columbia as it returned from space for the first time. When I was around 13 years old I joined Civil Air Patrol to be around others who shared my love of flying.The Birthplace of the WindsAt about 14 years old my parents divorced and I moved to an island 1600 miles off the coast of Alaska - a cold, wet, hellish place called Adak literally named "The Birthplace of the Winds". At the time Adak was a Naval Air Station between the Bering sea and the Northern Pacific Ocean that I and 3000 other people called home. Although isolated from the rest of the world I found many opportunities to expand my knowledge of aviation while on Adak even going so far as to receive my student glider pilots license before the age of 16. It was also around this time I began writing short stories. I also became interested in 3D animation after watching the movie The Last Starfighter. In 1989 I graduated high school (a graduating class of 15 students) and transferred with my father to Sasebo, Japan.Land of the Rising SonI can't say enough wonderful things about my five years in Japan. In the early 90's when the first Gulf War was at its peak I was living and working at Sasebo Navy Base absorbing as much Japanese culture as I could. I began writing more and soon felt the pull to go to college. My status as an overseas dependent allowed me to retain my Alaskan residency so the next few years would be spent wintering at school in Fairbanks, Alaska and then working for the summer on the Navy Base in Japan.University of Alaska FairbanksI often tell people that some of the warmest places in my heart are some of the coldest days and nights I spent in Alaska. After a semester as an Aviation major and then a semester as a Paleobiology major a professor friend mentioned that I might try a Journalism class. Soon I was writing science features for the college paper as well as working for the KUAC the Alaska PBS station which is headquartered at the University. During my junior and senior year I was asked to be the student body representative for the Emil Usibelli Distinguished Teaching, Research and Service Awards committee. Also around this time I would begin a summer internship at a computer animation firm in Redondo Beach, Ca which would eventually lead me to relocate back to Southern California after my senior year of college.Back to CaliforniaNow that the Internet was a reality I could expand my knowledge base to include web technologies such as Flash that would allow me to use my broadcasting, print and animation experience all in the same medium. I now find that a majority of my work revolves around the solving of complex communication problems for entrepreneurs, inventors or companies who need to explain their complex and more importantly confidential ideas in a creative way.When I'm not working I devote as much time as I can to writing and just in the last four years I've written several movie scripts, two science fiction novels and as I start my third novel I feel like I'm just getting warmed up.view less