Former Courier member Kevin Savetz gets a little geeky as he talks about his nerdy life as a CHS student in his memoir, Terrible Nerd. Savetz writes about his adventures as a teen in the 1980s and his present day interaction with the internet. In the book, Savetz describes his love for technology and how it shaped his childhood.
Q: What is Terrible Nerd about?
A: It’s about being a part of the first generation of kids to have a computer. It’s about my love of technology, the people I met because of it, the things I got to do, friends I have made and the careers that I got to have.
Q: How did you become interested in joining the Courier?
A: I was always interested in writing. I went to Arthur E. Wright Middle School and started writing on the Spartan newspaper. I won an award when I graduated in 8th grade. I joined the Courier staff my sophomore year of high school.
Q: Why did you choose to write about your love of technology?
A: I have always loved computers and technology. In some ways, computers were more interesting back then than they are now. They were special and kind of hard to use. Not a lot of people understood how to use them, and it was a super interesting and geeky thing. I decided that I wanted to write a book that showed my excitement.
Q: What is the message of your book?
A: I try not to be “preachy” in my book. High school sometimes sucks, sometimes it is fantastic and sometimes it is okay. Looking back, I am grateful for the experiences I had there and the people I met.
Q: How does it feel to have accomplished writing a book that documents your time in high school?
A: I had the most fun writing about when I was in high school. Technology was most new and interesting then. When you grow up, you do boring stuff like getting a job and dealing with people. The most interesting part to write about was when I was young, and I think it is the most interesting part to read.
Q: Do you have any plans for the future involving your writing?
A: I am thinking about ideas for my next book. One idea is about the first computer magazine and how the earliest computer magazines were made.