[Coco] Re: Coco Digest, Vol 22, Issue 106

[farna at att.net]

I remember there was a book (I think!) that he advertised then never sent to a lot of people. IIRC he was upset/disgusted/whatever because of low number of orders (compared to earlier titles) or something like that, and he just didn't deliver and didn't return any money, stating he'd used more than he got in advertising, research, or something. I really don't recall that clearly, and I don't have a copy of TLW lying around. I have a couple packed up, of course! 

He had got a lot from the CoCo community, but took it like we owed him more. So he just said "the heck with you guys" and went on to other things in the PC world where he could make more an be more appreciated. Egos -- some people have really big ones! I knew a guy in the AMC car hobby world that was kind of the same way, but he eventually mellowed out and bowed out as gracefully as most would let him. Bill just slammed the door in the remaining CoCo loyalists face and left out the back door. So I lost $20-$25 on a book I didn't get -- it's nothing to want to strangle him over! But I do feel he owed the CoCo community much more than we ever owed him. Without our support he may have never got anywhere. I think this later bit is what upset a lot of people more than anything else -- they felt like they had been betrayed by a friend. 

--
Frank Swygert
Publisher, "American Independent 
Magazine" (AIM)
For all AMC enthusiasts
http://farna.home.att.net/AIM.html
(free download available!)
			

 -------------- Original message ----------------------

> From: Torsten Dittel <Torsten at ...>
> Subject: Re: [Color Computer] Holy Mods Batman!
> Newsgroups: gmane.comp.hardware.tandy.coco
> Date: 2005-04-14 17:04:52 GMT (13 weeks, 6 days, 8 hours and 2 minutes
> ago)
> 
> Hmmm... I googled in both the bitlist and comp.sys.tandy groups and all 
> notes about his death seem to be just rumors. I found some messages 
> claiming he took some money from different persons but never delivered 
> (whatever) and disappeared:
> 
> "According to Frank Swygert in his book, "Tandy's Little Wonder", The
> problem occured around December 1990. Frank was one of the people who 
> got a raw deal."
> 
> 
> Frank, any coments?
>