LANGER, Maria 1961-

PERSONAL: Born June 30, 1961. Education: Hofstra University, B.B.A. (highest honors), 1982. Hobbies and other interests: Recreational flying, horseback riding, motorcycling, camping, photography, reading, gardening.

ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Author Mail, McGraw-Hill, Inc., 2 Penn Plaza, New York, NY 10121-2298. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Writer and helicopter pilot. Flying M Air, owner and operator. Formerly worked as an auditor and financial analyst for Automatic Data Processing (ADP) and New York City Office of the Comptroller. Database manager; instructor in computer software applications; computer consultant; Web site manager. Macintosh Tips & Tricks (newsletter), publisher.

WRITINGS:

(With Bernard J. David), The Mac Shareware Emporium, Brady (New York, NY), 1992.

FileMaker Pro 2.0 for the Mac in a Nutshell, Sybex (San Francisco, CA), 1993.

Mac Power Toolkit, Hayden (New York, NY), 1993.

Murphy's Laws of Macs, Sybex (San Francisco, CA), 1993.

Excel 5 for Macintosh: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press (Berkeley, CA), 1995.

The Macintosh Bible Guide to Word 6: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press (Berkeley, CA), 1995.

The Macintosh Bible Guide to Excel 5: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press (Berkeley, CA), 1996.

PageMill for Macintosh: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press (Berkeley, CA), 1996.

America Online 3 for Macintosh: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press (Berkeley, CA), 1997.

America Online 3 for Windows 95: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press (Berkeley, CA), 1997.

Claris Home Page Companion, AP Professional (Boston, MA), 1997.

Mac OS 8: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press (Berkeley, CA), 1997.

PageMill 2 for Macintosh: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press (Berkeley, CA), 1997.

PageMill 2 for Windows, Peachpit Press (Berkeley, CA), 1997.

Database Publishing with FileMaker Pro on the Web, Peachpit Press (Berkeley, CA), 1998.

Excel 98 for Macintosh: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press (Berkeley, CA), 1998.

Quicken 99: The Official Guide, Osborne/McGraw-Hill (Berkeley, CA), 1998.

FileMaker Pro 4 Companion, Academic Press (San Diego, CA), 1998.

Mac OS 8.5: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press (Berkeley, CA), 1998.

Word 98 for Macintosh: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press (Berkeley, CA), 1998.

Excel 2000 for Windows: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press (Berkeley, CA), 1999.

Mac OS 8.6: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press (Berkeley, CA), 1999.

PageMill 3 for Macintosh & Windows: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press (Berkeley, CA), 1999.

Quicken 2000: The Official Guide, Osborne/McGraw-Hill (Berkeley, CA), 1999.

Word 2000 for Windows: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press (Berkeley, CA), 1999.

FileMaker Pro 5 Companion, Morgan Kaufmann (San Diego, CA), 2000.

Mac OS 9: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press (Berkeley, CA), 2000.

Putting Your Small Business on the Web, Peachpit Press (Berkeley, CA), 2000.

Quicken 2000 for the Mac: The Official Guide, Osborne/McGraw-Hill (Berkeley, CA), 2000.

Quicken 2001: The Official Guide, Osborne/McGraw-Hill (Berkeley, CA), 2000.

(With Susan Price) Online Investing with Quicken 2000: The Official Guide, Osborne/McGraw-Hill (Berkeley, CA), 2000.

Word 2001 for Macintosh: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press (Berkeley, CA), 2001.

Word 2002 for Windows: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press (Berkeley, CA), 2001.

Excel 2001 for Macintosh: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press (Berkeley, CA), 2001.

Mac OS 9.1: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press (Berkeley, CA), 2001.

Mac OS X: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press (Berkeley, CA), 2001.

Quicken 2001 Deluxe for Macintosh: The Official Guide, Osborne/McGraw-Hill (Berkeley, CA), 2001.

Quicken 2002 Deluxe for Macintosh: The Official Guide, Osborne/McGraw-Hill (Berkeley, CA), 2001.

Quicken 2002: The Official Guide, Osborne/McGraw-Hill (Berkeley, CA), 2001.

Excel 2002 for Windows: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press (Berkeley, CA), 2002.

Excel X for Mac OS X: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press (Berkeley, CA), 2002.

Mac OS X 10.1: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press (Berkeley, CA), 2002.

Mac OS X: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press (Berkeley, CA), 2002.

Quicken 2003: The Official Guide, McGraw-Hill/Osborne (New York, NY)), 2002.

Word X for Mac OS X: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press (Berkeley, CA), 2002.

Mac OS X 10.2 Advanced: Visual QuickProject Guide, Peachpit Press (Berkeley, CA), 2003.

Mac OS X 10.2: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press (Berkeley, CA), 2003.

Mac OS X 10.3 Panther: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press (Berkeley, CA), 2003.

Microsoft Word 2001/X Advanced for Macintosh, Peachpit Press (Berkeley, CA), 2003.

Quicken 2004: The Official Guide, McGraw-Hill/Osborne (New York, NY), 2003.

Microsoft Office Excel 2003 for Windows: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press (Berkeley, CA), 2004.

Microsoft Office Word 2003 for Windows: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press (Berkeley, CA), 2004.

QuickBooks Pro 6 for Macintosh: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press (Berkeley, CA), 2004.

Quicken 2005: The Official Guide, McGraw-Hill/Osborne (New York, NY), 2004.

Creating Resumes, Letters, Business Cards, and Flyers in Word: Visual QuickProject Guide, Peachpit Press (Berkeley, CA), 2005.

Creating Spreadsheets and Charts in Excel: Visual QuickProject Guide, Peachpit Press (Berkeley, CA), 2005.

Microsoft Word 2004 for Mac OS X: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press (Berkeley, CA), 2005.

Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger: Visual QuickStart Guide, Peachpit Press (Berkeley, CA), 2005.

Quicken 2006: The Official Guide, Peachpit Press (Berkeley, CA), 2005.

Contributor of articles and reviews to periodicals, including FileMaker Pro Advisor, Mac Addict, Mac Design, NetProfessional, Computer User, MacWEEK, MacUser, and BBS. Contributing editor to FileMaker Advisor and Mac Design.

SIDELIGHTS: Maria Langer has written numerous how-to computer books primarily focusing on programs such as Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and FileMaker Pro. She also writes books about Web publishing software, such as Adobe PageMill and Claris Home Page; financial software such as Quicken; and operating system software such as Mac OS X and Windows. Langer avoids playing favorites in the Mac v. PC wars; she has created separate versions of her software guides for Apple aficionados and users of the Windows operating system. Such was the case with America Online 3 for Macintosh and America Online 3 for Windows 95 both of which Library Journal reviewer Thom Gillespie praised for their "purely practical approach." Several of Langer's books focus on updates to the Mac OS operating system, such as Mac OS 8 and Mac OS 8.5, which Gillespie called "essential for all collections."

In Database Publishing with FileMaker Pro on the Web Langer explains how to use the popular program. Library Journal contributor Gillespie congratulated the author for producing "a well-written book," and also called Langer's Word 2000 for Windows and Excel 2000 for Windows, "perfect for beginners."

Langer turns her attention to the Web with her book Putting Your Small Business on the Web. She explains the basic concepts of establishing a Web presence for a small business, including the costs. Chriz Zeiner, writing in the Library Journal, noted that the author "explains the concepts without being condescending." Langer offers readers step-by-step instructions on performing hundreds of word-processing tasks in her book Word 2001 for Macintosh. An OfficeSolutions contributor noted that the book is "designed for finding answers fast." Quicken 2003: The Official Guide is aimed at beginners and immediate users of the popular accounting software and was noted for its "[s]traightforward explanations and clear labeling" by Library Journal contributor Rachel Singer Gordon. In praise characteristic of much that Langer has received for her writing efforts, Gordon also called Langer's Mac OS X 10.2 "a thorough, friendly guide."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Library Journal, May 1, 1997, Thom Gillespie, reviews of America Online 3 for Macintosh and America Online 3 for Windows 95, p. 132; January, 1998, review of Mac OS 8, p. 124; August, 1998, Thom Gillespie, review of Database Publishing with FileMaker Pro on the Web, p. 125; January, 1999, Thom Gillespie, review of Mac OS 8.5, p. 144; July, 1999, Thom Gillespie, reviews of Word 2000 for Windows and Excel 2000 for Windows, p. 126; October 1, 2000, Chris Ziener, review of FileMaker Pro 5 Companion, p. 140; December, 2000, Chris Ziener, review of Putting Your Small Business on the Web, p. 176; July, 2001, Chris Ziener, review of Mac OS X, p. 118; February 1, 2003, Rachel Singer Gordon, review of Quicken 2003: The Official Guide, p. 111; April 1, 2003, Rachel Singer Gordon, review of Mac OS X 10.2, p. 122; January 1, 2005, Rachel Singer Gordon, review of Creating Resumes, Letters, Business Cards, and Flyers in Word: Visual QuickProject Guide, p. 148.

OfficeSolutions, June, 2001, review of Word 2001 for Macintosh, p. 46.

Planet IT, September 18, 2000, review of Quicken 2001: The Official Guide.

Training, February, 2000, review of Mac OS 9, p. 96.

ONLINE

Helinews.com, http://www.helinews.com/ (May 23, 2005), "Maria Langer."

Maria Langer Home Page, http://www.marialanger.com (May 23, 2005).