Updated: 2 June 2021
Readers of my web sites have asked for information about me in the hopes of getting to know me better. This page is an attempt to accomplish that. From my picture above to what follows, here is a glimpse into the entity known as "Mike Weasner".
I was born and raised mostly in Seymour, Indiana, USA, a small Mid-western town in Southern Indiana. Much of my personality and abilities stem from my parents; brothers, Harold and Paul; sister, Shirley; and many school teachers. Paul began me down the path of science and science fiction. Thanks Paul! Finally, much of what makes me "me" is a result of my high school band director, Mr. James C. Patton. Mr. Patton, my deepest thanks for what you taught me beyond music skills. In late 2001 I finally located Mr. Patton and began to correspond with him. Letting him know of his influence on me and hearing about his life in the several decades that have passed has been a real personal joy. And then in June 2007, I was able to have a visit with Mr. Patton, his wife Marilyn, and their daughter Susan, at their home in Indiana. That was a real treat! Mr. Patton passed away in January 2013. I'm glad I had the opportunity to see him in 2007 and personally thank him for all that he did for me.
Following high school, I obtained a B.S. in Astrophysics from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. I then did some graduate level work in Meteorology at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin.
Following college I entered into the United States Air Force, where I served as a fighter pilot, instructor, and a manager in the Air Force's Space Shuttle Program Office. The photo on the left is my "Tiger Shot" during T-38 Pilot Training. After I earned my "wings" I was assigned to the A-7D fighter, seen on the right, and below, during a refueling mission.
You can see more photos from my Air Force flying on my "T-38 Talon" and "A-7D Corsair II" web sites.
I developed software on the Apple II computer in 1980 and then on the Macintosh in 1984. The applications that I developed were mostly done because I wanted to do something specific on my computer and did not like any of the solutions that were available. I eventually signed up as an Apple Macintosh Associate Developer, which helped me tremendously, both personally and professionally. The picture of me at the right was taken during a visit to Apple in 1996. I am the author of ExAminer, at one time a popular Macintosh shareware utility. I still do some occasional programming, but only in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to support my various web pages.
In November 1994, I met R-Laurraine Tutihasi. We have many mutual interests and both agree that there isn't enough time to do everything we want to do, individually and together. We married in 1999.
During my Air Force career I lived in many places, finally ending up in the Los Angeles, California, area for my last assignment. I lived in Torrance, California, from 1980 until June 1997, when we purchased a home in Rolling Hills Estates, California. After leaving the Air Force in 1983, I eventually went to work for an aerospace company as a Computer Systems Security Engineer. Later I became a manager in one of the business units and was the Apple Reseller Program Manager for the company. In October 2004, I was selected as the Deputy Training Manager for an organization that supported approximately 20,000 employees. As a result of some company reorganizations I elected to retire in June 2007 after 23 years with the company. I missed the people and the challenges and being able to contribute in meaningful ways to the successes of the people and the organization. However, it was time to move on. And moving on meant moving first to Oro Valley, AZ, while we built our new home in Oracle, AZ. You can read the "Road to Oracle" blog for reports on building our new home. We finally moved in at the end of June 2009.
I am a busy amateur astronomer. The photo at the top of this page shows me inside my SkyShed POD observatory with my Meade 12" LX600 telescope. I have a web site for "Cassiopeia Observatory" where you can see reports of my sessions in the observatory, my astrophotography, and product reviews I have done. From 1996 to 2013 I was the "WebMaster" of the very popular Weasner's Mighty ETX Site telescope web site. Although I no longer update the ETX Site, it remains available as a continuing resource for amateur astronomers worldwide. I am the author of the book Using the Meade ETX, published in 2002 by Springer-Verlag in their Practical Astronomy series. In 2014 I formed the "Oracle Dark Skies Committee" to pursue the designation as an "International Dark Sky Park" for Oracle State Park. In November 2014, the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) announced that Oracle State Park was designated as an "International Dark Sky Park", the 20th worldwide and the first in the Arizona State Parks system. Also in early 2015, the IDA awarded a "Dark Sky Defender" award for 2014 to the Oracle Dark Skies Committee for its work and accomplishments. In November 2015, IDA awarded Mike a "Dark Sky Defender" award for 2015.
In April 2017, the Tucson PBS TV station aired a 5 minute biographical story about me:
Click image to view the show
In September 2018 this story was nominated for a 2018 Emmy Award. It did not win, but it was an honor and thrill to be part of a show that was nominated.
From April 2014 to December 2018, I was the Chair of the "Oracle Dark Skies Committee". From December 2017 to December 2018, I was the President of the "Friends of Oracle State Park". From mid-2015 to mid-2020 I was a member of the IDA "Dark Sky Places Committee" and was its Chairman 2017-2020.
On 25 October 2019, Rick Van Kooten, Executive Dean, and Jeff Stuckey of the Indiana University College of Arts & Sciences, were in Tucson and presented me the IU Bicentennial Medal for my work in public outreach and science education.
This was a totally unexpected but much appreciated honor.
During the summer of 2020 the Bighorn Fire threatened the community of Oracle, reaching to about 3 miles from our home. I posted several reports with photos on my Bighorn Fire reports page.
In September 2020 I created a "Congress and the flawed STELA Legislation" blog to document my ongoing efforts that began in 2013 to get Congress to change legislation it created that puts local lives at risk and harms local businesses.
On 10 December 2020, Indiana University College of Arts & Sciences again honored me by selecting me for one of its "Alumni Spotlights".
Read the article at Celebrating Alumni Contributions: 200+ Years of Impact.
My hobbies include astronomy, science fiction, and computers. I enjoy listening to classical music, science fiction movie soundtracks, and old radio shows like "X Minus One", "The Lone Ranger", etc.
My autobiography Finding my Way to the Stars, was published in May 2021.
Well, that's me. Thanks for stopping by. Take care.