Dave Thomas
Coder | Author | Teacher | Co-Founder, The Pragmatic Bookshelf
It’s a sure sign I am getting older when my entrepreneurial heroes start to retire. So it was when I heard Dave Thomas, co-founder of The Pragmatic Bookshelf, described himself as ‘Publisher Emeritus’. I had to look it up, too. It’s when college professors are “retired but allowed to retain their title as an honor”. The Pragmatic Bookshelf without Dave? Impossible!
I have bought a number of Pragmatic books over the years – haven’t we all? – most notably Agile Web Development with Rails of which Dave is a co-author. At first I was stunned when I periodically received a cheerful note from one of the ‘gerbils’ to say it had been updated and I could download the new version for free. Amazing. Also, the odd time I had a question, I often received a personal response from Dave himself. How does he do it, I wondered. He’s seems to be everywhere at once.
I was stunned when I made the long shot request for Dave to be an early guest on The WorkNotWork Show. He not only accommodated the request happily, but was extremely generous with his time. The resulting interview is must-listening for anybody interested in the past, present and future of both the software and publishing industries. It turned out Dave is the poster boy for the Show. His work really isn’t work at all: Dave fell in love with coding when he was a kid, and as he approaches his 60s, still describes it as the place he goes when it’s time to relax and kick back. On his passport application in the occupation box, he still puts ‘coder'.
In Part 1 of this in-depth, wide-ranging interview we go all the way back to the beginning with Dave, to some early stints in Canada and the United States with his parents. After returning to England, he fondly describes his early coding efforts and then his time at Imperial College in London. Part 2 begins as Dave meets Andy Hunt and joins him on some consulting projects and co-authoring books such as The Pragmatic Programmer and Programming Ruby. Ultimately, they founded The Pragmatic Bookshelf and the rest, as they say, is history. Finally, in Part 3, we pick up the story as Dave starts the next chapter in his professional life, which includes teaching at Southern Methodist University near his home town of Dallas, Texas.
Dave understandably bristles at the suggestion he is ‘retired’ or he’s entering a ‘third chapter’ or the ‘golden years’ or anything remotely like that. Rather, like many of us, Dave sees this new phase as an opportunity to reframe and reinvent himself. In a way, he’s been doing that all his life. You get the sense he’s anything but retired. Rather, I suspect the best is yet to come.
Oh, yes, and there’s a bonus. In his WorkNotWork interview, Dave finally reveals the true identity of the mysterious garden gnome. Hint: it’s not who you think.
©2016 The WorkNotWork Show
