Michael Bartosh

There are many people who have known and worked with

Michael Bartosh in the last six years. I was just one of them.

I first met Michael at Apple’s EduCause booth in Nashville in
October 2000. I was a Senior Marketing Manager and he was an
Education Systems Engineer. He struck me right away as one of
the sharpest and most enthusiastic people I have ever met. Back
then, his mastery of all things Macintosh was already complete,
and that early knowledge base and passion would eventually lead
to his O’Reilly

Book on Mac OS X Server years later.

Michael was laid off from Apple, in one of their routine
shuffles, because, he told me, he didn’t have his bachelor’s
degree. I was disappointed to see Michael let go, but he picked
himself right up, went back to Texas A&M
and quickly finished his Bachelor’s degree. Along the
way, he founded a Macintosh training and consulting
company, 4AM-Media.

Michael, it seemed to me, was one of those people who never
quite got over leaving Apple. How deeply this affected him, I
cannot say for sure because I was merely a casual friend, not a close
friend. But I know that everyone who works passionately for
Apple for a time eventually has to come to terms with their
departure. It usually manifests itself in the person
using the skills and passion they developed at Apple to
move on to new adventures, and Michael certainly was doing
that.

Michael was a very self-confident fellow, and I know that
there are some people who didn’t like him. But when one of
our colleagues dies in a tragic accident, we must forget all
that and simply acknowledge the personal loss. The set of all
people who knew Michael is poorer today for his absence.

I’ve told my wife that, if she survives me, my tombstone
should read: “He left to pursue other interests.”

That’s what Michael will be doing, I am certain.

John Martellaro