Jim Butterfield
| Jim Butterfield | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
14 February 1936 Ponoka, Alberta, Canada |
| Died | 29 June 2007 (aged 71) Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Occupation | Computer programmer, author, public speaker |
| Spouse(s) | Vicki Butterfield |
Frank James "Jim" Butterfield (14 February 1936 – 29 June 2007) was a Toronto-based computer programmer, author, and television personality famous for his work with early microcomputers. He is particularly noted for associations with Commodore Business Machines and the Toronto PET Users Group, for many books and articles on machine language programming, and for educational videos and TV programs.
Jim Butterfield was born on 14 February 1936 in Ponoka, Alberta, about one hundred kilometres south of Edmonton. He was the third of four children to James and Nancy Butterfield, who had immigrated from England to farm. In 1953 he won a French scholarship to the Banff School of Fine Arts; he later attended the University of Alberta and the University of British Columbia but dropped out due to lack of interest. One of his first jobs was radio continuity writing in his native Alberta, which gained him valuable writing experience.
In 1957, Butterfield began working for Canadian National/Canadian Pacific Telecommunications, at first as a microwave technician trainer in Whitehorse. In 1962 he was transferred to Toronto, and within a year was programming CN/CP's mainframe computers. Butterfield left CN/CP in 1981, allegedly for telling his boss that personal computers would wipe out the wire teleprinter business, though Butterfield stated that he quit voluntarily after the company relocated too far from central Toronto to make commuting worthwhile. He became a full-time freelance writer, programmer, and speaker.
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