“The Mouse That Roars,” New Era, Feb. 1991, 29
The Mouse That Roars
Bit by bit, byte by byte, Doug Johnson and his computer mouse are making a name in Houston, Texas. Life for this young man is soft—software that is.
Seventeen-year-old computer whiz Doug Johnson is clicking away at a keyboard. His eyes are scanning a blur of codes that flicker across the computer screen. Doug begins to talk, but the clicking continues. His hands have a life of their own. They move from the mouse to the keyboard and back again with hypnotic speed.
“The computer won’t do anything you don’t tell it to,” says Doug, a high school senior in Houston, Texas, who is making a name for himself in the field of computer programming. “I find a lot of people are actually scared of the machines.” He stops working for a moment, thinks about that, then resumes clicking.
Sitting at the computer, this quiet young man has probably never been afraid. He faces each project like he faces life—by keeping long-range goals in mind and sticking to what he knows is right. It’s a policy that has given him success in the business side of computers, and in the other aspects of his world.
A minor celebrity
On the business side of things Doug has done very well. His expertise on the computer has made him somewhat of a celebrity in Houston. Local TV stations and newspapers find this young man appealing. Doug is good news, and his story is intriguing.
He began working as a computer programmer for area businesses when he was only 14. At that same age he started writing his own intricate telecommunications software (it allows computers anywhere in the world to share information). The program has sold through mail-order around the country and is now being considered by a national publisher.
Doug doesn’t mind the publicity his computer skill brings, but the stories usually tag him as a genius, and Doug says he’s not that.
“They blow it out of proportion. I’m not a computer genius. I was able to get to this point in my life much earlier than most people because I grew up with computers and I’ve had the experience. I’m a pretty simple person. The only unique thing is I have this adult programmer trapped inside.”
An emerging talent
That adult programmer began emerging at an early age. According to his mother, Marian, Doug learned how to use a screwdriver at two and started taking apart anything he could get his hands on. “Including an attempt at his dad’s car,” Marian said. “The problem was he couldn’t always put the things he took apart back together.”
By five Doug put down the screwdriver in favor of the Johnson’s home computer. His father, Lynn, also a computer programmer, showed him how to get going, but Doug needed little direction. Over the years Lynn kept his eye on his son and began to show him how he could use his interest and talent. Doug’s first job in programming was with his dad. When he was 12, Doug wrote a complex system for a major law firm while his dad installed the computer hardware.
At 14 Doug was writing his own software and had formed his own computer company, Maximum Output Software, to market and sell his products. At an age when most young people are only thinking about getting a part-time job, Doug was writing his own software and doing programming work for engineering and shipping/receiving firms.
One of his clients, Angelo Mourino, the owner of a Houston air freight company, said he hired three other professional, adult programmers before Doug. None of them could do the job he needed. Word had surfaced about this 14-year-old whiz kid. Angelo said he was skeptical, but ready to try anything.
“One guy I had hired before Doug had taken six months just to figure out he couldn’t do the job,” Angelo said. “Doug finished the project in about two or three weeks.” While going to high school!
Challenges
At 17 Doug has a long list of credits behind him which include captaining his high school computer team to top awards in state competitions, serving as the president of a prominent Houston computer club (Doug is also the youngest of the 100-plus members), maintaining a 4.0 GPA in his schoolwork. The list goes on.
But, as Doug is quick to point out, there’s more to him than computers and an aptitude at schoolwork. He’s just a normal LDS kid and with normal outside interests. He’s working on his Eagle Scout Award. He likes music and works occasionally as a deejay at stake dances in Houston and, with a friend, writes funny rap songs about the Church. He has attended early-morning seminary for three years and will graduate this spring.
And he has some normal 17-year-old challenges. He’s shy and has trouble meeting people; he’s shorter than average and isn’t too good in sports; and, believe it or not, he’s a procrastinator.
But he faces those challenges, and others, like he faces the computer—by again keeping his goals in mind and doing what he knows is right. When friends invite him to drinking parties, he turns the invitations down and explains why he doesn’t want to go. When he is asked tough questions about his religion, Doug answers with faith and a solid understanding of the scriptures he has gained through church and seminary study. If people try to get him to use his computer knowledge for illegal gain, he refuses without hesitation.
He thanks his family and the Church for keeping him on the right path.
“The gospel has kept me away from drugs and alcohol, but it has also given me a direction. When I leave home I know how I should live, how I should raise a family. The computer can’t be everything. I’d like to be successful at it, but I won’t ever do anything illegal.”
A computer calling
Brent Rawson, Doug’s bishop in the Champion’s Ward of the Cypress Texas Stake, said he recently called Doug as the ward computer specialist and had him devise a computer program that would allow the bishopric to keep track of members, ward callings (and how long each person has been serving), home and visiting teaching, who spoke in sacrament meeting (and when), and so on. Bishop Rawson can now review, within seconds, any detail of his ward’s business.
“He has been a big help to me,” Bishop Rawson said. “A calling like this needs great maturity and he has that, along with lots of leadership ability. From a bishop’s point of view he is a very spiritual young man with a lot of potential.”
Also, Doug’s computer skills have helped him in other aspects of his Church development. Half of all his earnings go into savings for his mission and for four years at Brigham Young University, where he plans to further his computer programming studies. Plus, Doug hopes that his computer company will one day be productive enough to allow him to support a family.
A simple creed
The clicking has stopped. Whatever Doug was working on is finished. He shows you what he’s created, but his manner is matter-of-fact. After all, as Doug will tell you, it doesn’t take a genius to do this. The computer does what it’s told. Doug tries to do the same—live the principles he’s been taught, do what his parents and church leaders advise.
As Doug Johnson will tell you—life, and computers, can be simple if you have the right attitude.
Photography by Don Heit and Adrian Gostick
(Above) Doug’s parents helped direct their son toward the computer. (Previous page) Doug with his sisters Suzanne, 14 (upper left); Cheryl, 13 (upper right); Christine, 3 (lower right) and brother Brent, 10.
(Above left) Helping a Houston computer dealer with programming and sales takes up much of Doug’s spare time, but finding a moment for his little sister is no chore (above).