Edward J. Renehan, Jr. - 1956
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I. Background
The 20th century will be remembered for its computer technology, responsibility to the environment, and demand for truth. When you look for an author who best represents the turn of the century, read Edward J. Renehan, Jr.
An extraordinarily diverse writer and complex man, for nearly twenty years, Renehan was a computer editor for Macmillan and author of six computer technology books. On the issue of technology, he comments, "...Computers and the Internet have come to fascinate me for their sheer power to disseminate information and therefore liberate minds."1 With John Perry Barlow, lyricist for the rock group the Grateful Dead, Renehan is an activist in "combating the notion of censorship in cyberspace." 2
His belief in personal responsibility to the environment is demonstrated by the funding of two trees for every one that is felled to produce copies of his books. It was during the time he was involved with the fight to clean up the Hudson River that he wrote about naturalist John Burroughs, a "friend of the Hudson Valley" and Theodore Roosevelt. "I grew up not far away from Theodore Roosevelt's home, Sagamore Hill, and read his books when I was young," Renehan explains. 3
Renehan was raised by parents who thought books were important. He read every book and biography of Theodore Roosevelt and expanded his search to include TR's friend and biographer, Owen Wister. Renehan says, "So long as I can bring such men as John Burroughs and Stearns to life ...I'll feel that I'm doing good work." 4
The Secret Six is an example of a man, George Luther Stearns, who risked everything to aid abolitionist John Brown. Renehan handles historical biography with the ease of a novelist sharing family stories—only the families are the Roosevelts, the Burroughs, the Stearns, and the Browns. We meet them and know them.
Roosevelt was the son of a demanding and unrelenting father. Driven to achievement, he sought danger, believing he was "not worthy" until he proved himself in a dynamic event. It was a belief he held for himself and his children—a stoicism expressed with pride by his great-granddaughter at a Renehan reading.
Renehan explodes the cobwebs of history. You don't read Renehan's biographies. You listen and are there.
II. Renehan's Life
1956: Born August 7; father: Edward John Renehan, purchasing agent; mother: Joan Salvesen Renehan
c.1970: Recording, guitar and vocals with friend Pete Seeger, Folkways Records royalties donated to Clearwater. Board of Directors of Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, river clean-up and environmental education
c.1970: Regents Scholarship to State University of New York, New Platz; graduate work at Yale
1980: Publishing positions: John Wiley & Sons and St. Martin's Press; Macmillan and K-III/Newbridge, director of Computer Publishing Programs and Newbridge's website:
http://www.booksonline.com1985: Married: Christa Bartkovick, graphic artist
1998-9: Lectures/Speeches: Boston Athenaeum, the Philadelphia Athenaeum, the Union League Club of NY, the Harvard Club of NYC, the Harvard Club of Boston, the Prologue
Society of Miami, the Thoreau Society, Sagamore Hill, the Concord (MA) Museum, the Gilder-Lehrman Institute of American History; "Talking Head" PBS documentaries and
consultant on Robby Kenner's WGBH/American Experience film on John Brown III. Works By Renehan John Burroughs: An American Naturalist. (1992, 1998)
* Originally published in Old Santa (1995), a short biography with commentary by Renehan. A Renehan family history from the elder Renehan's association with Horace
Greeley, to Alois' life as attorney and in governmental service
1987: Son born: William James
1991: Daughter born: Katherine Eleanor
1994: Moved to Wickford, North Kingstown, RI with his wife, Christa, and children
1997: Theodore Roosevelt Association, member and coordinator of the TRA annual
meeting held in the Naval War College of Newport, RI. TRA@sprynet.com. Address: P.O. Box 719, Oyster Bay, NY 11771; sponsor of Rain Forest Action Network: ejren@aol.com
The Secret Six: The True Tale of the Men Who Conspired with John Brown (1995)
1001 Really Cool Web Sites (1995)
Net Worth: Creating and Maximizing Wealth With the Internet (1996)
Science on the Web: A Connoisseur's Guide to Over 500 of the Best, Most Useful, and Most-Fun Science Websites (1996)
1001 Programming Resources (1997)
Hacker Proof: The Ultimate Guide to Network Security (1997)
Great American Website: An Online Discovery of a Hidden America (1997)
The Lion's Pride: Theodore Roosevelt and His Family in Peace and War (1998)
A Brief Sketch of Alois B. Renehan (1869-1928) (1999)*
IV. Footnotes
1. E-mail Correspondence: E. J. Renehan, Jr. to Susan Huetteman, 11-8-99. 2. Ibid. 3. Ibid. 4. E-mail Correspondence: E. J. Renehan, Jr. to Susan Huetteman, 11-11-99. V. Other Sources Renehan, Edward J. Jr.
The Lion's Pride. Theodore Roosevelt and HisFamily in Peace and War. NY: Oxford University Press, 1998. Biography and photographs, 289 pages. E-mail Correspondence: E. J. Renehan, Jr. to Susan Huetteman, 10-11-99.
Olendorf, Donna, ed. Contemporary Authors. A Bio-Bibliographical Guide to Current Writers in Fiction, General Nonfiction, Poetry, Journalism, Drama, Motion Pictures, Television, and Other Fields.,Vol. 140.
Detroit: Gale Research, Inc.,1993, pp.377-8. VI. From the Web Edward J. Renehan Home Page:
Edward J. Renehan, Jr., brief biography:
http://www.osborne.com/gaws/renehan.htm
John Burroughs: An American Naturalist, author commentaries:
http://www.mhonline.net/~black/books/burroughs.html
http://members.aol.com/EJRen/after.html
http://members.aol.com/EJRen/Burroughs.html
The Lion's Pride
, comments, reviews and excerpts:
http://members.aol.com/EJRen/lion.html
http://www.bookpage.com/9810bp/nonfiction/lions_pride.html
http://www.worldwar1.com/dbc/roosev.htm
Great American Website,reviews and excerpts:
http://www.webreviewer.com
http://www.georgejr.com/98/excerpts/greatameri.html
http://www.smartbooks.com/bw706gaws.htm
Edward J. Renehan, Jr. Science on the Web,excerpt and description:
http://www.springer-ny.com/catalog/np/updates/0-387-94795-7.html
1001 Programming Resources, review:
http://www.noccc.org/bytes/revubook/v01/109.html
Also, try Internet searchesfor Edward J. Renehan, Jr. to get extensive listings of books and publication information, with synopsis, author biography, reviews, Web and e-mail address. Here are some places to start:
http://www.amazon.com
http://www.goto.com
VII. Video C-Span Video #114419, 1998, 65 minutes. Proceeds support in part C-SPAN Educational Foundation.
This essay was submitted by Susan Huetteman, a retired teacher in Rhode Island.