User:Cmprovince/sandbox

Charles M. Province grew up in a small mining town in Flat River, Missouri and on his Grandpa's farm in Irondale, Missouri, both towns are in southeast Missouri in the vicinity of the “Old Lead Belt” which at one time was the largest lead ore mining area in the world.

After High School, he joined the U.S. Army where he learned to wire control boards and operate "IBM Punch Card Machines" - the precursors to today's computers. Mike spent many years working for computer manufacturing companies such as DEC, CDC, IBM, and Apple. He worked for the Copley Press in La Jolla, California before transferring to the newspaper company's flagship newspaper plant in San Diego, which published the San Diego Union, the Evening Tribune before their merger in 1992 to create the San Diego Union-Tribune morning newspaper. He worked for the Copley newspaper group for thirty-six years (at CCSI, Corporate, and U-T) as a Computer Operator, Computer Liaison, and Macintosh service specialist.

He additionally was a computer science instructor in the San Diego Community College District for 15 years.

He has written dozens of books since his retirement from the newspaper industry in 2005; subjects such as General George S. Patton, Jr., the Korean War, World War II, military history, computer science, and a four volume set of childhood memories called A Little Kid From Flat River.

He is an accomplished actor, author of stage plays, singer, and all-round entertainer. He runs a small publishing house (CMP Publishing House) and he helps people publish family histories. Mike is available for book readings, lectures, and other entertainment work.