Our children will laugh at us, too
“How did you happen to write your books together, with one of you at Lehigh and the other at UConn, and how do you manage to keep collaborating on their successive revisions?” These are the two questions most often asked of our two authors.
The answer to the first question is simple. Russ Johnston’s first teaching appointment was in the department of civil engineering and mechanics at Lehigh University. …
This brings us to the second question: How did the authors manage to work together so effectively after Russ Johnston had left Lehigh? Part of the answer may be provided by their phone bills and the money they spend on postage. As the publication date of a new edition approaches, they call each other daily and rush to the post office with express-mail packages in order to double-check their work. There are also frequent visits between the two families. At one time there were even joint camping trips, with both families pitching their tents next to each other. The Beers were the first to graduate to a trailer, which was used to illustrate a problem in one of the early editions of their text, but was replaced by the Johnstons’ trailer in the next one. Now this trailer has also been replaced, both authors preferring the comforts of a motel and its dining room to those of a camping ground and its fireplace.