Stan Veit, an early retail innovator of personal computers, writer, editor and publisher, died in his home on July 29th, surrounded by his loving family and friends. He was 90 years old. We can all see that living to 90 is a feat that most of us won’t accomplish. A full, long life like Stan’s should be celebrated, but we all also realize that losing someone you love is very sad. My deepest sympathies go out to his family and close friends. Stan touched my life in a very real way, and while I admired him, I was not close to him. I wish that I could have known him better.

Stan was born on Christmas day in New York City in 1919. He attended Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute and Hofstra College, after which he served in the US Army Air Corps during World War II. Post-war he worked as a technical writer for a slew of well-respected companies, including Republic Aviation, Loral Electronics, Grumman, ITT, and Bell Labs. Stan enjoyed his work, but grew weary of working on contract-dependent jobs, where once he completed his good project work, he was released.

In 1975, Stan was looking for a better opportunity when he read an article about Dick and Lois Heiser. The Heiser’s opened the first-ever computer store, called Arrowhead Computers – The Computer Store in Los Angeles, CA. The Computer Store specialized in selling Altair computers and related books. Stan thought that was a novel idea, and decided he would research opening his own computer store in New York City, if he wasn’t able to find a “real” job first. Knowing that location was an important consideration, Stan discussed the idea with Lewis Polk, owner of Polk’s Hobby Department Store at 32nd Street and Fifth Avenue. Polk agreed to sublet space to Stan, and The Computer Mart of New York was born.

Stan’s store was the first computer store on the east coast, and only the second one in the world (incorporating in December 1975, with retail operations beginning in February 1976). The Computer Mart was the first to sell more than one brand, beginning with the Sphere, IMSAI, and SouthWest Technical Products, and adding more brands later. The store quickly became popular, and by mid-1976, Polk told Stan that he could no longer operate on the first floor, as his computer store was now interfering with the sale of toys. Stan’s only option was moving to the basement, which he didn’t want to do, so he gambled and rented a large storefront on 32nd Street and Madison Avenue.

Around this same time, The Computer Mart became the third Apple dealer in the country. Stan had met both Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in California, and he was impressed with their computer, the Apple 1. “Woz” had also showed him the Apple ][ prototype, and Steve Jobs even tried to convince Stan to invest $10,000 for a 10% stake in Apple Computer, but Stan had all of his money wrapped up in his business. Plus . . . he wasn’t THAT impressed! Anyway, Stan thought he could help them, as well as help his future sales of their machines, so he invited them to share his booth at the first big computer show in Atlantic City. Stan tells a great story in his book, Stan Veit’s History of the Personal Computer, where both his wife Dede and her mother were at that show too. Steve Jobs and Dan Kottke showed up to hang some signs (the Woz was back in the hotel room, still finishing up BASIC for the Apple 1). Stan’s mother-in-law noticed holes in the seat of Jobs’ jeans and demanded that he allow her to mend them. She said, “Young man, your backside is sticking out of holes in those jeans! You are NOT going to be in my booth like that. Take ‘em off and I’ll sew them up, now!” Somewhat shocked, Steve went behind the curtain of the booth, and got his pants repaired!

The Computer Mart of New York did solid business and was a success, that is until 1980. A large part of their business was based on the sale of Processor Technology computers and parts. When that segment started collapsing, it left The Computer Mart with a large excess of inventory. Stan was also having problems with bank financing, and the convergence of these two problems lead to a shortfall in operating capital. The Computer Mart went out of business, and Stan felt like his dreams were crushed. He did remain in computer retail for a little while though, working for a few other dealers. He also began writing magazine articles, plus a couple of books (he had collaborated earlier in 1977 on a book with Leslie Solomon called, Getting Involved with Your Own Computer: A Guide for Beginners). Some of his articles were for Popular Electronics, and later in 1980, he became the computer editor.

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One of the earliest regular columns Stan wrote was for a little computer paper that sold used computers called Computer Shopper. Based out of Florida, its publisher Glenn Patch was looking for it to grow. Patch offered Stan the job of editor to expand his publication. Not only did the position pay well, but Stan would also be in charge, so he could run the magazine as he saw fit. At first, he was able to stay in New York and only travel to Florida about one week out of a month, but as the publication became more successful, his stays in Florida became longer than his time back home. Ultimately, the Veits bought a home in Florida, Dede moved down, and they could again be together all of the time.

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The Computer Shopper grew substantially, ultimately becoming a phone-book-size magazine of over 800 pages! It was carrying 500 to 600 advertising pages in every issue. Stan had become both editor-in-chief and publisher. Many other large computer publishers made offers to buy the magazine, but Patch would not sell, until finally he accepted an offer from Ziff-Davis to form a limited partnership. Stan gave up his publisher title, but remained editor-in-chief for another year until a replacement could be found. Since 1987, Stan has been the editor-in-chief emeritus. He semi-retired, but later started writing a regular computer history column called “What Ever Happened to . . .”

I discovered this column sometime around 1991 or so. I was a big Apple Macintosh person, so I didn’t have much use for the giant Computer Shopper, but I was in the Army in Germany, and starved for computer magazine input! I subscribed to two Mac magazines, and they only arrived once a month. So one day at the post bookstore, I flipped through a Computer Shopper and found Stan’s column. I had recently become very interested in computer history, so Stan’s column sealed the deal! I loved his column, and I also enjoyed just flipping through the magazine for the sometimes interesting, and sheer volume of ads.

Sometime in mid-1992, I bought a 2400-baud modem for my Mac Classic, subscribed to CompuServe, and went online for the first time. I discovered a small, but active classifieds section where I purchased some of my first old, collectible computers. I also discovered the discussion forum that Stan ran there, and I exchanged some email with him. I had a great new hobby, reading all about computer history, and collecting computers, so I thought starting a club for people like me would be a novel idea. My wife and I were to transfer back to the States in late March of 1993, so I started planning. I decided to publish a bimonthly newsletter, and maybe one-day even start a computer museum. After moving into our apartment in El Paso, TX (near Fort Bliss) and putting my address up for memberships / subscriptions, I was surprised and touched to receive a package from Stan that included a letter of support, a check, and a copy of his upcoming book, Stan Veit’s History of the Personal Computer in pre-release form. I devoured his book, and quickly read it twice! It became, and still is my favorite.

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Sometime in 1997, I had returned to my hometown of Jacksonville, FL, and Stan invited me down to Titusville (at the “Space Coast”) to give me some of his old computers and memorabilia. I ended up staying the night with Stan and Dede and found them both to be such nice, down-to-earth people. I joined them for dinner, then breakfast, and some friendly discussion. Stan remained active in technology, writing occasional articles for computershopper.com and in forums, plus starting his own computer history site and Web 2.0 The Magazine.

In 2006, I discovered podcasts, and there was even one about computer history, The Retrobits Podcast by Earl Evans! Soon after, I also discovered the Macintosh Folklore Radio podcast. Derek Warren read chapters from the blog folklore.org - “Anecdotes about the development of Apple's original Macintosh computer, and the people who created it.” This gave me the idea to approach Stan and his publisher about doing the same thing with his computer history book. I felt that the book deserved far more exposure. I also still believe that the free audiobook podcast will actually help sell more copies of the printed book, when the new edition is released. Stan graciously granted me permission and I set about recording it. After completing the rather long first episode, which included the Foreword, Introduction, Dedication, and Chapter 1, life got in the way. Recently, I uploaded Chapter 2 in July, and Chapter 3 is currently in the works. I’m dedicated to completing Stan’s book, putting up a chapter at least every month now.

Stan was a great man, and there are many in computer history circles that recognize his contributions and accomplishments. Stan was the first member of my Historical Computer Society in 1993, and ironically, I am just now starting this group up again as a monthly club, hopefully the first step in finally creating a non-profit, self-governing, educational organization. I will dedicate it to him to help keep his memory alive.

I’m expecting a package in the mail soon, and I can’t wait. I decided to do a search on eBay for “computer shopper” and I actually found some old copies for sale! I currently have four issues from 1987, but they are from before I personally started reading it. I did save about a half dozen of Stan’s articles, that I pulled out of my copies back in 1993, but now I’ll have six “new” issues ranging from between the years 1991 and 1993. It will be very nostalgic and exciting to look through them.

Below is a link to Stan’s memorial site, plus I’ve gathered together as many relevant links as I could find associated with him. If you have a nice story or memory to share about Stan, his family asks that you visit his memorial page and share your thoughts. Read one of his articles online, or listen to his book, you’ll enjoy it.

Stan’s book in audio: http://www.classiccomputing.com/CCPodcasts/Stan_Veit/Stan_Veit.html

Memorial Site: http://memorialwebsites.legacy.com/StanVeit/Homepage.aspx

Computer Shopper Memorial Page: http://computershopper.com/feature/in-memoriam-stan-veit-computer-shopper-s-first-editor-in-chief

Stan’s Site: http://www.pc-history.org/

Stan’s article on the 20th anniversary of Computer Shopper: http://computershopper.com/feature/stan-veit-and-the-yellow-rag-computer-shopper-a-retrospective

Stan’s article on Apple Computer’s early years: http://computershopper.com/feature/apple-computer-the-very-early-years

Great article with pictures about The Computer Mart, from onComputing, Summer 1979: http://forums.computershopper.com/showthread.php?t=4658