Stephen Manes (born January 8, 1949) is an American author, magazine columnist, and screenwriter known for the 2011 nonfiction book ''Where Snowflakes Dance and Swear: Inside the Land of Ballet.'' Its subject, the workings of a

ballet company A ballet company is a type of dance troupe that performs classical ballet, neoclassical ballet, and/or contemporary ballet in the European tradition, plus managerial and support staff. Most major ballet companies employ dancers on a year-rou ...

, marked a significant departure for an author best known for his journalism on technology and his books for children.

Early life and education

Born and raised in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

. He attended the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in cinema from the School of Cinematic Arts at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

Career

Manes wrote the "Digital Tools" column that appeared in every issue of ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' from August 1998 until February 2007, when he announced a six-month "break" after his review of

Windows Vista Windows Vista is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was the direct successor to Windows XP, released five years earlier, which was then the longest time span between successive releases of Microsoft W ...

. From April 1995 to December 2008, he also wrote the "Full Disclosure" column anchoring the back page of ''

PC World ''PC World'' (stylized as PCWorld) is a global computer magazine published monthly by IDG. Since 2013, it has been an online-only publication. It offers advice on various aspects of PCs and related items, the Internet, and other personal tec ...

.'' Manes was also co-host and co-executive editor of the public television series '' PC World's Digital Duo'', a program he helped create. Manes was previously the Personal Computers columnist for the Science Times section of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' and a regular columnist for ''

InformationWeek ''InformationWeek'' is a digital magazine which conducts corresponding face-to-face events, virtual events, and research. It is headquartered in San Francisco, California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United State ...

.'' He wrote about technology since 1982 as a columnist and contributing editor for ''

PCMag ''PC Magazine'' (shortened as ''PCMag'') is an American computer magazine published by Ziff Davis. A print edition was published from 1982 to January 2009. Publication of online editions started in late 1994 and continues . Overview ''PC Magaz ...

'', '' PC/Computing'', ''PC Sources'', ''PCjr'', and '' NetGuide.'' The now defunct ''Marketing Computers'' named him one of the four most influential writers about the computer industry and called him "a strong critical voice." Manes co-authored the best-selling biography ''Gates: How Microsoft's Mogul Reinvented an Industry—and Made Himself the Richest Man in America.'' He also wrote ''The Complete

MCI Mail MCI Mail was one of the first commercial email services in the United States and predates the widespread adoption of the Internet. History The MCI Mail service was launched on September 23, 1983, in Washington, D.C., during a press conference that ...

Handbook'' and programmed much of the ''Starfixer'' and ''UnderGround

WordStar WordStar is a discontinued word processor application for microcomputers. It was published by MicroPro International and originally written for the CP/M-80 operating system (OS), with later editions added for MS-DOS and other 16-bit computing, ...

'' software packages. Manes is also the author of more than 30 books for children and young adults, including the ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' bestseller ''Make Four Million Dollars by Next Thursday!'' and the award-winning ''Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days!,'' which was adapted for the public television series '' WonderWorks''. His books include '' Chicken Trek'' and ''The Obnoxious Jerks'' and have won a commendation from the

National Science Foundation The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...

and

International Reading Association The International Literacy Association (ILA), formerly the International Reading Association (IRA), is an international global advocacy and member professional organization that was created in 1956 to improve reading instruction, facilitate dial ...

Children's Choice awards. His writing credits also include television series and the 1976 film '' Mother, Jugs & Speed''. Manes has served as an elected member of the National Council of the Authors Guild, the country's oldest organization of book authors.

Personal life

Manes lives in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

with his wife, Susan Kocik.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Manes, Stephen American technology writers American self-help writers Writers from Pittsburgh 1949 births Living people University of Southern California alumni USC School of Cinematic Arts alumni The New York Times columnists