Chris Gulker

Christian Frederick "Chris" Gulker (March 10, 1951 – October 27, 2010) was an American photographer, programmer, writer, and pioneer in electronic publishing. Gulker was "instrumental in introducing the digital publishing era to the newspaper industry" He converted the San Francisco Examiner from black and white to color by implementing a production system of his own design. His work made possible an all-Macintosh-produced edition of The Examiner after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake led to a power shutdown that idled the newspaper's publishing system. The system provided the publishing infrastructure for The Gate, the online newspaper jointly operated by The Examiner and San Francisco Chronicle, which made its precipitous debut on November 3, 1994 and came to be officially launched on April 5, 1995. He was twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and worked as a freelancer for Time, Newsweek, Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, Glamour and The New York Times. He died of a heart attack in 2010 at the age of 53. He is survived by his wife, two daughters, and a son.