Loadstar

Loadstar Magazine

Loadstar

Where Commodore 64 Fans Came to Work and Play for 22 Years

Loadstar - Commodore Magazine

It began on a table-top in 1982, when a young couple saw a great need for excellent, affordable software for Apple II computers. JIm and Judi Mangham sent out disks of programs to all their friends - and soon SoftDisk Magazine was changing computing.

In 1984, the company decided to branch out to the growing audience of the Commodore 64, and decided to name the publication after the command that started a disk:

LOAD"*",8,1

Loadstar grew with the C64. In 1987, Fender Tucker became the Managing Editor, and brought a certain style to the magazine. Fender turned over the editorship to Dave Moorman in 2001, who continued publication until 2007.

Loadstar arose in the midst of many paper consumer magazines that helped new users discover the power of the C64. However, Loadstar had a great advantage over the type-in offerings: being published on a disk allowed large, complex programs with graphics and auxiliary routines. Loadstar was targeted to the beginning and moderately skilled programming hobbyist, with tutorials and and machine language routines to extend the ability of even the stock 1982 machine.

Fender Tucker

A total eclectic, Fender gave up the glamorous life as a bar-band musician (no - he played a Gibson) in New Mexico to resettle in Shreveport, LA, and take the reins of Loadstar. With Jeff Jones and Scott Resh, he shaped the tone and texture of the magazine with a clear sense of style. He married Judi Mangham and they split Loadstar off from its mother company - SoftDisk - and published it from their home for several years. In 2001, Fender moved on to his hand-crafted book publishing concerns - Ramble House - and turned the magazine over to Dave Moorman.

Fender Tucker

Dave Moorman

Dave's first published program was Sea to Sea, a Transcontinental Railroad game, in 1994 and went on to provide a number of games, puzzles, and utilities to Loadstar. In 1999, he brought the World of Loadstar to the PC with eLOADSTAR on the VICE emulator. Sheri and Dave enjoyed to work so much that when Fender and Judi were ready to let go of the magazine, they jumped in. From 2001 to 2007, Dave edited and added his own various entertainments to the legacy. A tornado and the lack of new material brought the magazine to an end, though Dave, Lee Novak, and Alan Reed put together the last, great language Extension for C64's BASIC 2.0.

Dave Moorman

  • Published
    Mar 29, 2024
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