Bio: Tony York

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Bio: Tony York
5-Sep-2002 -- Susan Pichotta
 
This week's INN bio takes us south, and west... and south and west some more. Once a milkman, then a corporate bean-counter, this Clarionite now owns his own software business. When home, he enjoys baking bread with the family and listening to his 400 classical CDs. His home is located in a place with a few unfriendly critters, and the snide comment about Texas is not appreciated. <g>
 
Who do you work for?
I run my own business called Fiscal Software. It services the accounting profession and the travel industry.
 
What do you like best about what you do now?
Developing Software and building "the empire" is both challenging and stimulating. I think the best thing though is being able to create. Being able to produce attractive and easy to use applications that help people is very rewarding.
 
What has been one of your biggest challenges in using Clarion?
Not being able to learn fast enough. Just when I learnt Legacy, ABC comes along. Then comes ClarioNet and now ASP. So much to absorb.
 
What has been one of your biggest challenges in business?
To stay one step ahead of the tax man <g>. Seriously, even though programming feels more like a hobby than a job, I realise that I also need to create and maintain a viable and saleable business for when I retire. That takes quite a bit more effort.
 
Do you use any computer languages besides Clarion?
In my days I have used Turbo Basic, Visual Basic, Borland C++ and Clarion. I still use Borland for one old DOS app that just wont go away, but Clarion is used for all other apps.
 

South West Forest note the Kangaroo

When did you start using Clarion?
A colleague of mine was using Clarion for DOS to write an advertising agents booking system. When Clarion for Windows 1.5 came out, I got hold of the evaluation CD and never looked back. (SV should take note of this - Evaluation CD)
 
What's the coolest project(s) you've worked on using Clarion?
That would have to be Travel Assistant, a back office system for Travel Agents. It has taken me about three years to put together on a part time basis, but I now have Galileo, one the worlds biggest central reservations software firms, checking it out for their smaller agents here in Australia (about 80% of their customers). That application all started from a casual opportunity for a much smaller app, but it kept growing. So far it has got rave reviews.
 
Have you done anything for a living other than software development?
I have always considered that my working life started at age 11 when I worked as a Milk Boy for the Express Dairy. Rain hail, snow (well usually slush) or shine I was up at 5am every weekend and on school holidays working up to a 12 hour day. In later times I have also been an auditor with Price Waterhouse, a tax accountant with a large firm in Western Australia, and then I owned my own accounting practice for about 10 years. I then moved full time into the software development business.
 
What are your hobbies/what do you like to do when you're not using Clarion?
Listening to classical music, watching movies and historical documentaries, reading Agatha Christie novels, and reading WW2 non fiction - especially as it relates to Britain and the home front. Oh, not to forget politics. I am the local president of the Liberal Party and a previous candidate for the State Government (only once defeated). I also founded a private primary and high school. It currently has about 400 students, but after some 15 years on the board, I no longer take a part in its management.
 
Married, children, grandchildren,

Wedding photo - Tony, Emma and Lynne

other close family you want to mention?
Married to Lynne for 27 years. Five kids: Emma 23, Tristan 21, Jared 19, Katie 16 and Sophie 13. Emma is now married, but the rest still seem to be able to sponge off me with relative impunity.
 
Where were you born?
I was born in Dunfirmline in Scotland, but I'm not much of a Rob Roy these days. Well to tell the truth I was only ever in Scotland for 12 months so my accent never really had time to develop, and neither did any hankering for wearing skirts.
 
Where do you live now?
I live in a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, called Ferndale. It is about 20 minutes from the City and 20 minutes from Fremantle (where we looked after the America's Cup for a while).
 
What's interesting about where you live?
Perth is a somewhat isolated spot on the west coast of Australia. John Glenn mentions that he could see our lights from Space. As there is a lot of empty space between us and the Eastern States we do shine out a bit.
 
Being isolated has made us think for ourselves, and to stand on our own two feet.
 
Apart from that, and with being such a vast state (10 x Texas I last heard<g>) we have one of the most diverse of natural environments. We have the some of the best beaches, the best surfing, the best forests,

Commuting around Rottnest Island

a rugged coastline, mammoth Gorges, and also some of the most inhospitable outback country you will find anywhere.
 
We also seem to have every conceivable species of wildlife, most of which are either highly venomous or inflict nasty bites - you know, Sharks, Sea Snakes, Box Jellyfish, Crocs, Snakes, Lizards, Scorpions, Spiders, Wild Pigs, Water Buffalo, Dingos (where's my baby?), Ants, Mozzies, etc, etc. Even the Koala's can be a bit tetchy.
 
Have you lived any other interesting places?
Most of my early childhood was spent in Abbots Langley, a village some 20 miles from London. It was the birthplace of Nicholas Breakspeare the one and only Englishman to become Pope. That was in 1154 if I remember correctly. It is quite awe inspiring to think that your village has been around for nearly a 1000 years.
 
Being close to London we did have our share of celebrities living near by, including the very first Doctor Who, William Hartnell. Fanny and Johhny Cradock, one of the first English TV cooks (move over Jamie Oliver? No, dont think so). Mind you, I never did like her. She tried to have milkmen sacked if they did not deliver her milk by 8:00am. I know, as we had to drop everything just to deliver her milk on time.
 

Public transport in Broome

We moved to Perth on December 23, 1968, going from a temperature of 0 degrees in London to 38 in the shade was a bit of a shock - but we stuck it out.
 
After I married in 1975, CP Bird, the accounting firm I worked for, shipped us off to Kalgoorlie, the home of Gold Mining. In the old days it was all underground mining. In fact the Boulder Block (a Pub) had its own shaft for workers to come up for a drink. Now its mainly open pit (hole in the ground), but it is so big you can see it from space.
 
Which person, from past or present, do you most admire and why?
As a Christian I would have to say Jesus Christ, but on a more worldly level there are people like Winston Churchill, Maggie Thatcher, Martin Luther King and lots of other people throughout history, that fought against a tyranny of some form or another.
 
What is your favorite food?
I love most foods, with the exception of seafood. I think I had a violent reaction to seafood as a child and I just cannot eat it these days. As a general rule we cook healthy meals with lots of fresh veggies, but we do draw from recipies from all over the world - English, Italian, Chinese, French, Thai, Mexican, whoever developed the pizza, Hungarian, Welsh, just to name a few. We also bake our own bread which is good fun as well. No wonder I am overweight.
 
What is your favorite drink?

Surfers find their feet here at Wave Rock

If you are referring to alcoholic drinks, I love a good cider - Bryce Campbell once introduced me to a local brew at a pub in England, which was very cloudy, but tasted absolutely fantastic. A good port also does not go astray. Apart from that, it's good old water.
 
What is your favorite type of music?
I love all sorts of music. I listen to classical (400 cd's) most of the time, but I also enjoy "popular" music from the 30's - 70's (forget the 80s - 90's too much noise), a little jazz, a little opera, and light instrumental.
 
What is your favorite book? Movie?
The Clarion Programmers Guide - no only joking. I love Agatha Christie's Hercule Poroit and the James Herriot books (the famous Yorkshire vet). Movies - I love most movies but two small budget movies that gave exceptional value for money (except Crocodile Dundee of course) - The Waking of Ned Devine, and Saving Grace - British comedy at its absolute best - a must see.
 
If Clarion never existed, what do you think you would be doing at this time?
Probably a humble bean counter.
 
Anything else you want to mention?
Unlike the previous Australian bio, I call a spade a spade, so bird poop (Super Phospate).
 

The North West Outback