About the Author
William F. Sharpe has been writing for Linn's Stamp News since 1983. He wrote his first columns using a typewriter, since his Commodore VIC-20 computer didn't include a printer. That early computer didn't have a disk drive or a monitor either. Programs were saved on audio tapes, and a TV set was used as a viewing screen. Sharpe now works with a Dell Pentium computer, a Hewlett-Packard laserjet printer, and an Epson color inkjet printer. Sharpe retired from aerospace engineering in 1989. A native of Pennsylvania, he graduated from Villanova University with a degree in English and later received a Master's degree in Engineering from the University of Southern California. He moved to the West Coast three times, finally realizing that this was the spot to settle down in 1970. He and his wife, Nancy, who accompanied him in all these cross-country trips, enjoy the relaxed living style in California eight blocks from the beach. They have four children and four grandchildren, all living in California. He teaches computer-science and programming classes part time at the local community college. His collecting interests include United States and Australian stamps as well as topical stamps such as lighthouses, trolley cars, and computers on stamps. He followed the typical collector pattern, starting his interest in stamps at the high-school level, then putting aside the albums and tongs for about 30 years. An estate sale of stamps rekindled his interest in 1980. He is a member of the American Philatelic Society, the American Topical Association and the Mathematical Study Unit. He has been the treasurer for the Philatelic Computing Study Group since 1992 and has written articles for that group's newsletter, The Compulatelist.
