The Dinosaur Fan (November 2023) mmriley@dinofan.com

“Growing old is mandatory. Growing up is optional.” Chili Davis

Hello, I’m Mike Riley, the developer, author, and synthesizer of the content of ‘The Dinosaur Fan’ website. I originally embarked on this website project as an extension of my dinosaur card-collecting hobby. As time has gone by, my ‘free time’ energies have become split between non-sports collecting investigation and research pertaining to extinct life. I am hopeful that some of this material will be of interest to prehistoric animal enthusiasts as well as to non-sport card collectors. The following is a brief outline of my interests and background as well as some personal tidbits for those of you who are curious about what might have lead me to develop this website.

Like many kids, I was a dinosaur-nut as a youth. I can recall many an hour playing with plastic dinosaurs, reading kids’ books about these animals, and even flipping through dinosaur flashcards. But over time, I lost interest as sports, baseball card collecting, and girls became more appealing. My current interest in dinosaurs was initially sparked in 1993 when I happened to attend one of Steven Spielberg’s movie gems entitled, “Jurassic Park”. Soon after watching the movie, I began reading non-fiction and fiction books involving prehistoric animals. Then in 1997, the movie “The Lost World: Jurassic Park” was released which further fueled my interest in dinosaurs. It was about that time that I was having a tough time finding dinosaur-related fiction books which I had not already read. So, I decided to write my own dinosaur fiction book which I tentatively titled, ‘The Cretaceous Continuum’. I’ve since ‘shelved’ this project due to the lack of free time to devote to the research I think is necessary to develop a science-based, somewhat believable storyline. However, the research I did complete, combined with my rekindled interest in dinosaurs, lead me to investigate Cryptozoology (e.g., the study of evidence supporting the potential survival of prehistoric animals into present day a. la. the Coelacanth), the casual study of extinct life, collecting prehistoric animal cards, and finally to the creation of this website. You will probably notice from my professional experience below that I do not have a background in paleontology, paleobotany, archaeology, geology or any other related field of study. While I have taken night courses in paleontology at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, all scientific data contained in these pages was obtained from the on-line and printed sources listed in the Site Resources section of this website.

“Today is life-the only life you are sure of. Make the most of today. Get interested in something. Shake yourself awake. Develop a hobby. Let the winds of enthusiasm sweep through you. Live today with gusto.” Dale Carnegie

BASEBALL CARD COLLECTING: One sunny afternoon in 1968 while watching a friend’s Little League team play, I wandered over to the concession stand behind home plate to purchase one of those sickeningly sweet blue bubblegum snow cones. As I reached up to place my money through the miniature sliding screen, I spotted a box of baseball cards. Had my life been a movie, I might have heard a voice saying, “If you buy it, he will come”. The “he” was not Shoeless Joe Jackson or my dad but my childhood hero Willie Mays whose card magically appeared in the middle of the pack. And so began a 30-year baseball card collecting obsession which finally ended when a spreading “malignancy” in the form of investors and card grading companies infected the baseball card collecting hobby. Prices soared, vintage card availability shrank, and in the end, I joined the flow of collectors exiting the hobby; ultimately selling off my collection. DINOSAUR CARD COLLECTING: In late 1998, I was simultaneously mourning the end of my baseball card collecting days and pondering my growing interest in dinosaurs. It was during this time that my wife asked if I would occasionally place some bids for her on a relatively new on-line phenomena known as e-Bay. I was happy to help and did so for several months. An idea, something … something prehistoric had begun to twitch deep within my brain. And then one late night, it happened; instead of searching for my wife’s stuff, I typed just two words in the search box; “dinosaur cards” …. And so began my dinosaur card collecting hobby from which sprang the idea of creating ‘The Dinosaur Fan’ website. In 2013, after fifteen years, I significantly cut back on acquiring items for my personal collection although the ‘hunt’ has not ended by any means. I am still actively seeking information and images of collectibles which are not yet included in The Dinosaur Fan website.

In addition to collecting and research, my hobbies include this website, viewing all manner of sporting events, watching action & science fiction movies, and reading fiction novels involving prehistoric animals, bizarre creatures, and/or mutant life on the rampage. I was an avid jogger which began during my first year in graduate school (i.e., 1980) and included countless 5K, 10K, 12K, and 21K races until 2004 when knee issues and inspiration from my second daughter lead me to take up figure skating at the ripe old age of 47. I’ve also played in countless softball, basketball, and bowling leagues though my playing days have long since ended. Most recently, I’ve taken up Pickleball which provides older folks like myself an opportunity to compete at a recreational level.

Prior to retiring, I was a Microsoft M365 product (SharePoint, PowerApps, Power Automate, Power BI, etc.) help desk consultant. Before that, I developed Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services (ssrs) applications, Microsoft Access Services reporting tools, Microsoft Access database applications, front-end reporting tools, SQL application code, and EDI maps for a major player in the Technology / Telephony industry. And before that, I was a Computing Asset Manager and a Technical Writer for one of the major US Defense Contractors.                                  I earned an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management at Claremont Graduate University in 1981 ('Claremont Graduate School' at that time) and my Bachelors of Science in Management from the University of Redlands in 1979. And at my age, I feel compelled to send a “shout-out” to the remaining alumna of the now extinct (pun intended) Buchser High School class of 1975.

I was born in Northern California on February 23, 1957 and I’ve been married to the same Christian woman for almost four decades. We have three children, now adults of course, and two beautiful granddaughters. Our middle child, now in her 30’s, praise God, was born with Tuberous Sclerosis which is a rare, incurable genetic disease that causes tumors to grow in her brain, lungs, heart, kidneys, and skin. The resulting seizures, extensive medicine regiment, cognitive limitations, autism, and associated expenses have thrown us a lifetime curve ball. We rely on Jesus to pinch-hit for us whenever we find ourselves in the bottom of the ninth with two outs. On the bright side, she’s given an old geezer like me an excuse to watch Disney movies at the theaters and continue to anticipate holidays such as Christmas, Easter, 4th of July, and Halloween.

In Memoriam: John & Dolores Riley (A cartoon from my childhood that my mom & dad saved for me in a memory album)     (In my case it was a baseball card rather than a space capsule but I'm sure you get the point)