Bob: I had just begun writing professionally in 1985 and got hooked by the Atari 2600 game system. So, as any fledgling writer would do, I began to read the indicias of various videogame magazines that I found to learn where the magazines were located, and who the editors were so I could approach them to query them for the possibility of scoring an assignment. One of the Magazines I located was called Videogaming Illustrated, and it was published in Connecticut, not far from where I lived. About a month or so after finding the mag, I was at a local comicbook convention and saw a table with copies of Videogaming Illustrated on them. Behind the table were a woman and a young boy. I asked the woman how she was related to Videogaming Illustrated and she replied ‘I am Videogaming Illustrated.” To which I responded, ‘Oh, then you must be Jeff’s wife.” (Jeff Rovin was the editor of Videogaming Illustrated). The boy responded ‘How do you know my dad?’ to which I responded that his name was on the masthead. I asked Jeff’s wife if Jeff was at the show and she responded that he was coming later on.

I checked back a couple of times to see if Jeff had shown up, and finally at the end of the show he did. When he arrived I introduced myself to him, and told him that I was a writer looking for assignments. He started to give me the ‘Thanks but no thanks’ kind of response that all editors give to all newbie writers, but—much to my good fortune—I had (just that morning) put together a portfolio of my published work (about three or four articles), and showed him what I had already done. Well, the last (most recent) article was one that Jeff had apparently just read, and loved. When he learned that I was the author of that piece, he suddenly became ecstatic and told me that he definitely had work for me.

A couple of days later Jeff called me and started handing me assignments, which consisted of me reviewing game cartridges for the Atari. After a couple of months, he asked me if I was interested in coming into NYC and becoming an editor of his magazine line because he was launching a new Commodore-64 magazine (Ahoy!). I told him that I had a week of vacation from my job coming up, so I asked if I could “test drive” the job for a week while on vacation and decide if I wanted to make the jump. He said, okay, and I interned at his office for the week of my vacation. I naturally enough, loved it, and told him that I’d take the job, and promptly returned my other job and handed in my resignation.

I started working with Tim Moriarity (the editor) and Dave Allikas (a freelancer). After a couple of months, Jeff left the company, and Dave joined the staff full time. At this time we were publishing Videogaming Illustrated (now called Video and Computergaming Illustrated), and Ahoy! as well as one or two other magazines. Tim moved over to edit one of the other magazines we were publishing, Dave became the editor, and I became the managing editor. I stayed with the company for about 18 months, and then left to go freelance. All these years later I feel that it was probably a mistake to have left the company as soon as I did, and probably should have stayed on longer.

Paul: What were your duties while there?

Bob: As the Managing editor I just managed to edit—no what I actually did was coordinate with the writers about their scheduled assignments, I worked with the programmers who provided us with computer programs that went into the back of the magazine. I helped proofread and edit articles, contacted the various hardware and software companies to get news and information about upcoming products, plus acquired review copies of both software and hardware (I still have a TV/computer monitor that GE was attempting to market. While I don’t use it as a monitor, it still functions quite well as a TV.) I also wrote product reviews and represented Ahoy! at trade shows.

Paul: What are some of your most memorable stories, either from your work or from colleagues at Ahoy?

Bob: What I remember most about Ahoy! is that most of us on staff had come out of the comicbook field, so what we did not know about computers could fill a couple of CD-ROMs. So we stumbled along in the dark for a bit and tried to make the best of it. Interestingly enough, long after I left Ahoy! I (to this day) still run into people whose first computer was a C-64, and remember Ahoy! with a certain amount of fondness.

Paul: Finally, how would you describe your experience at Ahoy! magazine?

Bob: I loved working there, and, as I said earlier, I left the company way too soon. I should have stuck it out for the couple of years that followed as I now realize that I was just really getting my career started, and I would have certainly benefited much more had I stuck around for the full run of the magazine.

—Robert J. Sodaro