The People of Phoenix Technical Publications
Left to right: Grandison Gardner, Jill Hampshire, Oden Connolly, Malinda Charter, Andrea Wheeler, Brian Pardini, Manjari Dutta, Angela Chung, Julie Larson
, Michael Tran, James Gardner
(Not pictured: Michelle Kenney)
James Gardner
As the founder of Phoenix Technical Publications, a marathoner, and an Ironman-in-training, Jim is himself a trailblazer. With his inclination to constantly push himself and his appreciation for discovering new things, it is no surprise that Jim lists several explorers and adventurers when naming his most admired. He is a true Californian—born in L.A., educated at U.C. Berkeley and UCLA—who loves to travel but finds that there is no place quite like the Bay Area. He is well versed in the area’s best bike paths, running trails, and swim spots. Jim also makes time to enjoy books, music, and theatre, his tastes ranging from 18th century to contemporary, reggae to opera, classic to cutting-edge.
Julie Larson
Julie was born in Seattle, Washington, on a cold and rainy February morning. She immediately made it clear to her parents that the weather was unsatisfactory, and that nowhere but California would do. Six months later, they arrived in the Bay Area and never looked back. When Julie is not working at Phoenix Tech Pubs she spends her time shopping for shoes, traveling around Europe (to shop for shoes), and getting pedicures. Julie started doing graphic arts right out of college and got a freelance job in the art department of a company called “InPsych”. The job sucked, but she worked with some really fun people there, including Jim Gardner, who eventually started his own company and asked her to team up with him. That was about 25 years ago. Gasp.
Grandison Gardner
Grandy spends much of his time outside the office on his favorite pastime, music. An accomplished musician, Grandy plays in both a Bay Area string orchestra and a quartet. He has traveled extensively in Asia and the South Pacific and is contemplating covering more ground in the coming years, including living abroad in Europe and touring rural America by motorcycle. Meanwhile, he’s applying his familiarity with the how-to writing style to various home renovation projects. Grandy worked for seven years as an electrical engineer in satellite communications for Ford Aerospace/Loral. He joined Phoenix Tech Pubs in 1993.
Malinda Charter
A former Air Force brat, Malinda has lived all over the world. During her travels, she found the ice cream in Gransdorf, Germany to be the best, and the winters in Box Elder, South Dakota to be the coldest. After graduating from Wellesley College, Malinda settled in San José, and she now laces up her skates for ice hockey games and her running shoes for exploring the Bay Area trails. In less physical moments, she devotes herself to modern American poetry in addition to learning about emerging technologies through technical writing. During her nine years at Phoenix Technical Publications, Malinda has managed many large development projects and has even taken her skills abroad on a documentation project in Germany.
Andrea Wheeler
Andrea hails from northern New York, but has become a true Willow Glen (in San José) dweller. She can tell you the best place to run, shop, and eat in the neighborhood, where she is an active member of the PTA and the Willow Glen community. Andrea has worked in technical marketing for Intel, Wyle Electronics, Galileo Technology, and V3 Semiconductor. She enjoys learning about new technologies through her work as a technical writer.
Brian Pardini
Brian is a Redwood City native whose favorite Bay Area activity is rehabilitating old bikes and exploring the trails. He is also a diversified polyglot, having studied at least one language from each of the six populated continents and having lived abroad in South America and Asia. Brian finds gratification in technical writing from “being able to learn specific arcane knowledge about a subject and teach other people about it.” In addition to technical writing, he also has experience in medical and grant writing.
Oden Connolly
Oden has been summering at Phoenix Tech Pubs since 2007 between studying at U.C. Berkeley. As a 19th-century American Literature buff, he plans on pursuing a Ph.D. in the coming years. Clearly, he likes to read. A lot. When he’s not hitting the books, Oden enjoys biking, indie-rock concerts, and developing hidden talents, which range from exotic culinary feats like ceviche-making and coconut-opening to feats like skateboarding.