Clayton Cramer

Clayton Cramer was born in Everett, Washington, but grew up primarily in Southern California, graduating from Santa Monica High School in 1974.  He ran out of money at the end of his first year of college, and since he could not get a part-time job flipping burgers (he was not qualified to do that, it seems), he took the only full-time job available to him: writing telemetry software at Jet Propulsion Labs for the Voyager mission to the outer planets.

Clayton married Rhonda Louise Thorne in 1980, and they have two wonderful children, both of whom have left the nest.

Clayton worked for several mildly successful startups in Telecom Valley, north of San Francisco, playing a small part in the development of the first Bellcore-certified fully integrated fiber optic digital loop carrier, and the first Bellcore-certified DSL access multiplexer.

Clayton completed his BA in History (Computer Science minor) at Sonoma State University in 1994, and his MA in History from Sonoma State University in 1998.

He now lives in Idaho, where he writes software for the Idaho Department of Correction, teaches history at the College of Western Idaho, writes a monthly column for Shotgun News, writes articles for a variety of online and print publications, and runs a small business manufacturing telescope accessories. Sleep is for weaklings.