Karl Mamer (BA psychology 1999) says his varied career in communications as a technical writer, columnist, educator, podcaster, and author owes a great deal to skills and experience he gained with student media at the University of Windsor.

Now documentation manager for the Toronto-based software company TouchBistro, Mamer co-hosted with his friend Terry Brown the comedy show “White Label Humour” on CJAM radio from 1987 to 1990 and served as a reporter and editor for the arts section of the Lance student newspaper from 1989 to 1991.

“Skills I picked up there led directly to job opportunities,” he says. “I was interested in going into writing copy for advertising. Unfortunately, I graduated into a recession and jobs that paid you to be creative were thin on the ground, so I learned that sometimes the way to where you want to go is to plot a path parallel.”

His experience at the Lance enabled him to find work in desktop publishing and, combined with his interest in computers, helped him open doors.

“It was the early days of the Internet, the gold rush days,” Mamer says.

He wrote a column for the Toronto Sun newspaper reviewing computer entertainment software, the Internet, and other elements of the industry, and that led to a publishing house commissioning his books Hot List & Cool Sites, Finding the News on Usenet, The Truth is in Here, and Fun & Games on the Internet.

Technical writing promised a career with stable employment and benefits; Mamer held a series of positions before his current role, while continuing to pursue side projects, including podcasting and self-publishing.

“When podcasting became a thing, that’s where CJAM skills came in: sound editing, levels — those sorts of things.”

He has produced more than 100 episodes of “The Conspiracy Skeptic” and appreciates the learning opportunities it has afforded him.

“Having a podcast means you can contact people you’d like to talk to and schedule a conversation, and it somehow makes you not seem creepy,” says Mamer.

When the COVID-19 pandemic eliminated his morning commute, he found himself with the time to complete two books: The Skeptic’s Book of Lists and The Conspiracy Skeptics Book of Lists.

“When you’re in your 50s, you wake up every morning at 5:30 whether you have to or not,” Mamer says.

He decided to make use of that time and the idea of a book of lists seemed fun.

“You don’t have to write in any order, just what you feel like that day,” he says. “Eventually, I thought I had enough content for a book.”

He designed both publications himself, again employing skills from his student journalism experience.

“I knew how to lay things out — leading, gutters, white space, all the technical stuff,” he laughs. “Then I completed it and threw it up on Amazon.”

He has already begun work on The Skeptic’s Book of Lists 2.

When he attended celebration’s last fall celebrating CJAM’s 40 years of broadcast, Mamer made a donation to found the station’s Innovation Fund, which supports a series of public outreach events.

“I had decided it would be nice to pay off my tab, given what I owed to student media,” he recalls.

“At the University of Windsor you can get a well-rounded education but you still need to pick up some skills applicable to employment. For me, it all comes back to my time in student media.”

Alumni Week continues today with Lancers for Literacy and readings by alumni authors Jim Weese (BHK 1980, MHK 1983) at 8:30 a.m. in room 140 of the Human Kinetics Building, Richard Peddie (BComm 1970, honorary LLD 2001) at 11:30 a.m. in room 123 of the Odette Building, and Dwania McLarty-Peele (BA 2011, BSc 2011) at 3 p.m. in the lobby of the Essex CoRE building. A Grab ’n’ Go breakfast for students begins at 8 a.m. Tuesday outside the Welcome Centre and Wednesday features both the Day of Giving supporting Lancer athletics and the barbecue lunch for the campus community starting at noon on the River Commons. Find a full schedule of Alumni Week activities.