Almost a year and a half ago, Jerry Papke, my Senior Editor at CRC Press, approached me with the idea
of creating a handbook of Object Technology. He had known me when he was an editor at McGraw-Hill
and I had authored several books there. “…We do well with mega-projects of this kind,” he wrote, and
encouraged me to consider this opportunity. I discussed the idea with my ex-editor, ex-co-author and
current colleague, Jay Ranade. As expected, he said, “grab the opportunity.” He warned me that it would
be a difficult task. I would be dealing with some of the most prominent people in the object community.
“But if you accomplish this, your contribution to the Object community will be immeasurable,” he said.
The idea clicked, and I decided to give it a shot