Mike Conner

July 3, 1944 – June 15, 2025

Mike Conner

From 1985, when it was founded, to 2008, when it launched its first website blog, AATIA always had a newsletter. In the beginning, it was a simple sheet of paper whose main purpose was to remind members about the next meeting. Over time it evolved into an eight-page publication called The Letter that arrived in the mail every two months and gave the membership an identity and a sense of community and belonging. Many people contributed to it in many different ways, but it was the editor, Mike Conner, who was the driving force behind The Letter. It was his work—his touch—that turned it into a publication that was recognized as one of the best T&I newsletters in the country.  

Mike Conner’s many friends and colleagues remember him as a quiet, unassuming man with a wonderful dry sense of humor who never sought the limelight. He was born in Rosebud, Texas, a small town a few miles to the northeast of Austin. His interest in editorial pursuits began when he was in junior high school, where he edited the monthly mimeographed newsletter. His high school didn’t offer journalism classes, but he worked on the school’s weekly newspaper during the four years he was there, donning the editor’s hat when he became a senior. That year he wrote his first set of guidelines to help the staff produce a more professional paper.

In 1964-65 he attended the USAF Defense Language Institute at Syracuse University, New York, where he took courses in Intensive Russian. He served in the U.S. Air Force and was based in Heraklion on the Greek island of Crete in 1966-68. He went to the University of Texas at Austin, where he earned a B.A. in Russian with a minor in Geology (1969). In 1970 he attended the American Foreign Language Institute, USSR. In 1976, also at U.T., he earned an M.A. in Slavic linguistics with a minor in Russian literature.

He began translating full-time in 1971, specializing in geology and other earth sciences. He became an active member of the American Translators Association in 1975 and was accredited as a Russian-to-English translator. He was a member of the ATA Slavic Languages Division and AATIA’s Russian Special Interest Group. In 1993 he became a member of the ATA Chronicle Editorial Advisory Board and was the Assistant Editor of the ATA Chronicle in 1994-95. He was ahead of his time as a charter member and former president of the Translators Association of Central Texas (TRACT, 1976), a forerunner to the Austin Area Translators and Interpreters Association.

Mike was one of the original members of AATIA when it was created in 1985. He took the historic photo of the three founders that can still be seen on the Association’s website, and soon assumed the duties of the newsletter editor. Mike also designed AATIA’s original logo. When the Internet arrived, he was a key member of the team that created the Association’s first website in 1997, and served as Assistant Webmaster until his retirement. He designed the blog that replaced the print newsletter and went on to edit it for several years. Throughout this time, he frequently hosted AATIA-related celebrations at his beautiful home on French Place.

Mike Conner was a fine, gentle man with an inquiring mind and an eclectic range of interests. He served AATIA long and well. Always generous with support and encouragement, he was a mentor to many and a friend to all. He was quite unique, and his passing leaves a void we shall never fill.

– Tony Beckwith