(MYHOSTNEWS) (Author: Amy Armitage): Last year my ego was crushed because Kaanon was raving about Eric Meyer who was the Keynote speaker at Webmaster Jam Session … and he didn’t notice that I was on the list of speakers too!

What’s so great about this CSS Guru? What makes so many people attend his conferences, visit and comment his blog daily, or buy his published books?

Chad and I were fortunate enough to meet Eric last year at WMJ and he was truly wonderful, gracious and kind. He even signed a menu from our dinner for Kaanon!

Along similar lines to Richie Cunningham’s determination to break a real story (in episode #101 of Happy Days) when he got a D on his paper about a burnt out stop light from Professor Garrity, I decided to hit up Eric for an interview, but not one filled with only the geekspeak that web designers and developers can relate to. This was going to be an investigative story.. asking the hard questions..

Eric Meyer has written SIX books!

Cascading Style Sheets: The Definitive Guide

Cascading Style Sheets 2.0 Programmer’s Reference

CSS Pocket Reference

Eric Meyer On CSS

More Eric Meyer on CSS

CSS Web Site Design

Just as I’m fervent about web hosting and ensuring our hosting plans have a kind and loving owner who doesn’t abuse the server ;), Eric is well regarded and respected for his passionate advocacy when it comes to web standards, particularly Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)

But what don’t we know about Eric?

Did you know that Eric detests the taste of chocolate and coffee, and can’t stand carbonated fluids? That’s right – his entire career, and indeed his life, has been conducted entirely without the use of highly or even moderately caffeinated beverages.

*gasp*

How can anyone function without 8 shots of coffee prior to 9am?

Or this?

Eric: “On a related note, I’m mildly infamous for being perpetually hungry and a prodigious consumer of food. Despite this and my total avoidance of exercise, it’s nearly impossible for me to gain weight, and entirely too easy to lose it.”

See? I can get to the bare bones of a story!

Did you know..

Eric had a weekly Big Band radio show for nine years, from 1996 - 2005

Eric lives in Cleveland; however, most people assume he lives in San Francisco, or at least New York City

Eric’s college degree is a B.A. in History, with minors in English, Astronomy, and Artificial Intelligence

Eric’s wife is actually far more credentialed than he is, having obtained a Doctorate of Nursing last fall.

I just hooked you didn’t I?

What if I told you that Eric confided a secret to me that hasn’t even been blogged by him yet? Yes a LunarScoop!

Eric: “I’m a member of the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS), having been inducted in late 2006. What’s great for me is that they did so knowing full well who I was and my role in the field, instead of just coming across my name on web designers’ sites and assuming I was a designer too (I’m not). The letter of welcome actually cites me for my work in promoting standards and advancing the use of web technologies. That was a really, really great feeling.”

If that tickles your fancy click here to read the entire chat/interview ;)