Steve was born in Sydney Australia
in 1931. He is, among other things, an Electronic Engineer and Computer Program Developer
with an insatiable curiosity and a wide range of experience and expertise
(see resume).
In 1961 Steve married Chrissie Mangos, a Fashion Designer,
who was born in Melbourne. She quickly came to tolerate
(and often share) his many, and sometimes extreme, pursuits. They have three adult sons, each professionally involved with computer technology and electronics.
Chrissie's career has included fashion
designing, managing the family electrical retail and service business and manager of
the Denelle-Maree patisserie.
Chrissie's many interests include Latin-American music, creative cooking, sailing and
solving Sudokus (the diabolical ones). She often involves herself in
Steve's projects.
Steve is fiercely independent and dislikes banality,
weakness
and incompetence.
In his youth he was always seeking new and exciting challenges. His
interest in Anthropology once led him to contemplate making a
venturesome
expedition up the Amazon and Orinoco to gather material for a National Geographic
documentary he was working on.
He now looks back and says "thankfully the NGS weren't too
convinced of the practicality and safety of such a venture in the early 50's".
He is the author of the "Zervos' MindBenders" series and the column of the same name that appeared in "Scientific Australian" for several years. He has written for many
European and American publications, including
a number of articles for "GAMES" (1985-1986) published by Hugh Hefner
(owner of the Playboy Empire) which, despite its beguiling title, is
devoted to problematical recreations and has nothing to do with Mr.
Hefner's other preferred pastimes.
Steve has held several
positions in the fields of electronics and physics. In between many
professional projects
he found time to form a rock band, develop
strategic simulations and become a freelance fashion photographer.
He has written several texts and technical papers and has spoken on a wide range of
subjects, including
stereo-photography,
astro-physics and movie-making
techniques.
He is a painter, cyber-animator, and movie-maker.
He became interested in the concept of animation at the age of 9 years, long before
personal movie cameras were available. He would draw pictures on raffle-book stubs (animated by
thumb-flicking
through the pages) and pass
them around to his classmates for their amusement.
Steve is a (very) independent movie-maker and often writes, directs, and does his own filming.
He has been making short movies since 1949 and has picked up several European
awards for his arty films and experimental stereography
(nothing major, he will quickly add). Although an electronics
enthusiast, he
preferred
working with 16 and 35 mm film formats, converting to digital imaging
only recently.
Steve's films include:
The Sword-Master's Daughter (a
Viking tale, 35 minutes)
In the Hall of the Mountain Kings (inspired
by a ballet in The Peer Gynt Suite, 25 min.)
Tarzan (a
"Shipwrecked Crusoe" type family
spoof, 40 minutes)
Cifteteli Girl (Anatolian traditional belly-dancer, 5 minutes)
Although Steve's main professional occupation was developing logical systems for scientific
applications, he became involved in several areas of research including
artificial intelligence, neural network systems, and astronomy, until having
to
retire after suffering a stroke. He is still involved in some of his
past projects and interests but mostly in an advisory capacity.
INTERESTS
Include traditional Celtic music, Afro-Cuban
percussion, Latin rhythms, most
other music from rock to
the classics, strategic simulations, martial arts, philosophy, history, "everything science", and
"all things
art".
RECREATIONS
Include
writing, painting, stereo-photography, cyber-animations,
chess, and sailing.
AFFILIATIONS
(past and present)
Member "Space Research Institute of Australia",
2007
Founder "Centauri Rocketry Association ", 1960
Founding member "Northern
Districts Astronomy Club", 1954
Past president "Avondale Photographic Association", 1964-1970
Convenor of the "Willow Art Society",
c-1970
Coordinator of the "Hambledon Camera Club", 1963-1968
MH (2006)