I tried to explain to my wife why Mr Lancaster's use of the phrase: "The Postscript general purpose programming language" was a sign that he was even nuttier than me.

Although I was introduced to him through his electronics books, I think it's no exaggeration to say that of all the books I've read, it was "The Incredible Secret Money Machine" that had the largest influence in my life.

Too many years ago, when I was getting ready to start my new business, I read pretty much every business book I could lay my hands on. Although easily the shortest, "The Incredible Secret Money Machine" was the best of them by a longshot. It distills fairly commonsense business advice into a short collection of concentrated wisdom, and tailors it for the one-person venture. I think part of the value is that is isn't an academic treatise on entrepreneurship. It's more like a short writeup on what worked and didn't work for Don's own business ventures.

I think that in every business mistake I've made, I can point to a page in that book where he said outright not to do whatever I did.

In the Incredible Secret Money Machine, one of his tips was to cut off the power cord to your TV. (Pre Internet era!) The solid advice to not let yourself get distracted is invaluable. And harder than ever in today's world.

He attended Lafayette College in Pennsylvania, where he earned a degree in Electrical Engineering. He graduated from Arizona State University with a Master’s degree in Engineering while working for Goodyear Aerospace Corp., and nearly completed a second Master’s degree in Archaeology at ASU.

Gila Valley residents who have attended presentations at Discovery Park will remember Don’s fascination with the prehistoric canal system in the northern foothills of the Pinaleño Mountains. [...]

Don referred to the hundreds of miles of canals as “spectacularly engineered and woefully underappreciated,” and was committed to increasing public awareness of their importance, as evidenced by a front-page story in the Arizona Republic and his coverage 10 years ago in USA Today. He coauthored scientific papers about them with Dr. James Neely of the University of Texas-Austin, and was always in search of new canals, most recently hiking with his dog Sally.

A Master’s degree in Engineering? Impressive. And Archaeology??!
-- Jeff