John J. Anderson or J.J. Anderson (November 8, 1956 – October 17, 1989) was a writer and editor covering computers and technology. The New Jersey native was Executive Editor of '' Computer Shopper'' and ''Atari Explorer''. At the time of his death he was an editor for ''MacUser'' magazine in

Foster City, California Foster City is a city located in San Mateo County, California. The 2020 census put the population at 33,805, an increase of more than 10% over the 2010 census figure of 30,567. Foster City is sometimes considered to be part of Silicon Valley ...

. He was 33, and was survived by a wife, Lauren Hallquist Anderson, and two children. John began writing the "Apple Cart" column in ''

Creative Computing ''Creative Computing'' was one of the earliest magazines covering the microcomputer revolution. Published from October 1974 until December 1985, the magazine covered the spectrum of hobbyist/home/personal computing in a more accessible format th ...

'' magazine in January 1983 after

David Lubar David Lubar (born March 16, 1954) is an author of numerous books for teens. He is also a video game programmer, who programmed ''Breakout (arcade game), Super Breakout'' for the Game Boy and ''Frogger'' for both the Super Nintendo Entertainment ...

left to work for a video game company in California. He followed this with the "Outpost Atari" column in the same magazine. John would become Creative's Executive Editor, working alongside founding editors David Ahl and Betsy Staples.

Death and legacy

John and fellow MacUser editor

Derek van Alstyne Derek is a masculine given name. It is the English language short form of ''Diederik'', the Low Franconian form of the name Theodoric. Theodoric is an old Germanic name with an original meaning of "people-ruler". Common variants of the name are ...

were killed in San Francisco during the Loma Prieta earthquake. They were visiting the city for a business meeting when the front of a building collapsed, burying his car in debris from a brick wall. ''MacUser'' named two of its annual Editors' Choice Awards, celebrating distinguished achievement and up-and-coming talent, respectively, after the pair. On October 31, 1989, the John Anderson Memorial Fund was established by

Ziff Davis Ziff Davis, Inc. is an American digital media and internet company. First founded in 1927 by William Bernard Ziff Sr. and Bernard George Davis, the company primarily owns technology-oriented media websites, online shopping-related services, an ...

as a trust fund for John's two children.

Bill Ziff William Bernard "Bill" Ziff Sr. (August 1, 1898 – December 20, 1953) was an American publishing executive and author. Biography Ziff was born on August 1, 1898. He died on December 20, 1953. Ziff and Bernard G. Davis founded the magazine p ...

, President of Ziff, personally contributed $50,000.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, John J. American magazine editors 1956 births 1989 deaths Writers from New Jersey Writers from California 20th-century American non-fiction writers