The Night Before Christmas

Steve Richardson graduated with BS Aerospace Engineering, 1974, and initially worked as Engineer at two Naval Air Rework Facilities, analyzing damage and developing repairs for a wide variety of aircraft and rotorcraft for the US Navy and Marine Corps. Then became Systems Engineer and technical writer for Stencel Aero Engineering (now absorbed into Universal Propulsion Company) which designed and manufactured state-of-the-art ejection seats. Subsequently moved to St Louis MO to work in Operations Analysis for McDonnell Douglas, which merged with Boeing in 1996. Focused primarily on two areas: Combat aircraft survivability against conventional ballistic, chemical/biological, nuclear, and directed energy weapons; and worldwide military capabilities and operational scenarios. Also worked on a variety of next-generation aircraft concepts. Wrote all kinds of technical materials for proposals, white papers, professional papers, and other internal and external audiences. He retired in 2016 as a Technical Fellow, and holds six United States patents.

Clement Clarke Moore, (1779-1863), was a professor at New York City's General Theological Seminary (built on land donated by his father) who, in an 1836 reprint of A Visit From St. Nicholas (more commonly known today as Twas the Night Before Christmas), was first credited as the author of the poem, and later included it in an anthology of his work.