Introducing Ted Craven

[Jonathan Steele]

Introducing Ted Craven
by Paula Boon
Jul 02, 2008

Many people in the Huntsville area know Ted Craven as a poet and composer, but this is only one side of a multifaceted man. Some of his other roles, past and present, include expert chess player, spiritual seeker, computer programmer and entrepreneur.

Born in Guelph, Craven showed an early flair for creative writing. “My parents got me an Underwood typewriter for my eighth birthday and I cranked out short novellas on it,” he says. He began studying piano at about the same time and continued until he finished high school.

In his teens, he focused on chess, achieving a Canadian top-10 rank for those under 18 years of age. He competed in tournaments across North America, and spent summers playing speed-chess games in Toronto. Later, in Huntsville, Craven taught chess to children for several years before taking a break last fall.

After high school in Burlington, Craven’s focus took a different direction: he joined an ashram and stayed for the next 10 years. “The lifestyle was what you would expect: poverty, chastity and my personal nemesis - obedience,” he says. Craven refers to his time in the ashram as his university education. “It just took me longer than most to graduate,” he says with a smile.

Then, in the early 80s, he moved on. “The shine came off the organization, publicly and personally,” he says. His lack of bitterness is clear when he says, “There are two or three things that are foundational to how you find me now at age 54 and that was certainly one of them.”

Another of these things is thoroughbred horse racing. After attending his first race in Chicago in the early 80s, Craven became hooked. “Sports betting is about skill, knowledge and emotional discipline,” he says. “It’s ridiculously difficult to make money in the long run. There’s a lot of data involved, and the analysis of it lends itself to computerization.”

It was partly because of this interest that Craven became a computer programmer. Soon he was writing database management programs to make a living, while on the side he developed software designed to analyze horse-racing data. He found a “second guru,” Dr. Howard Sartin, who was a luminary in the world of computer-related horse-racing.

In the early 90s, Ted and his wife Alison bought the cottage her grandparents had owned on Trout Lake near Dorset. They later moved up to the area, and he worked from home as a computer consultant.

That was when he began to tap into Muskoka’s arts community. “My initial stuff was a bit awkward, but some folks still graciously applauded,” he says. “It revived my childhood poet, and I tried to involve myself as much as possible in poetry cafes and local literary gatherings.”

Then Craven found his way back to horse racing. “It was in my blood,” he says, recounting how “Doc Sartin” had stopped his work abruptly after a stroke in 2001.

When Craven discovered in 2004 that no one had taken up the torch, he decided to focus on his software, called Racing Decision Support System (RDSS), as a business. Within weeks, he met Sartin’s original programmer, who provided the software source code. “When you ask, this is exactly the way the universe answers,” Craven says.

In 2005 he started working in earnest on RDSS and his participation in Huntsville’s literary scene began to wane somewhat. “It takes all of my physical and psychic energy,” he says. “Not being female, and with underdeveloped multitasking skills, there are only one or two big themes I can focus on at any time in my life. I’ll be back, though.”

With his wife Alison’s unflagging support and encouragement, Craven plans to roll out his software this October in Los Angeles. There are already about 100 people who use it daily in their professional and recreational life as “horse-race investors.”

“Human beings have always sought to predict the future. Horse racing is as good a sandbox as any other to play in to learn the immortal truths of life,” Craven says. “The particular playground is unimportant – it’s being a winner, knowing yourself, and learning to share.”

Is there someone you’d like to see profiled in this space? Please call Paula at 789-5541 or e-mail pboon@metrolandnorthmedia.com

http://www.huntsvilleforester.com/hu...article/109236

What's an "ashram," Ted?

Jon

[Rverge]

very nice mr. ted. will have to play a game Kpe2-e4
also nice of you Mr steele

[JimG]

Nice article. Thanks for sharing. What is the roll-out in Los Angeles all about?

Jim

[gl45]

Nice article!!
About a game of chess......P-Q4, Kt-KB3; a nimzo-indian defense.
lbj

[Bill V.]

Thank You Jon

What a nice story about Ted

I tell you something. It would take many pages of words to write about
Ted, The friend and calm understanding man.
Ted knows what he wants and how to ask for things
He works to make people better.

Ted you are a real good man

Bill

[azbacks]

Jon....Thanks for posting the article on Ted.

Ted is truly a multifaceted man.

Thanks for helping all of us to be better.

Pete

[Jonathan Steele]

Thanks gentlemen, I'm glad you enjoyed it. I found this article accidentily while doing my periodic Google search of Doc Sartin. Heck, you never know what you'll find--just like in this case! I figured it would be nice for the rest of the P&C gang to read about it, so I posted it here.

Yes indeed, Ted is multi-talented, and more than that, a first-class gentleman.

Regards,

Jon

[RichieP]

Extremely cool that Ted is recognized as the gentleman and sharpster he is. He was there for me a few years back when things were real rough and I will never forget it. His actions spoke louder than any words could.

Bravo!

[Charlie D]

Thanks Jon

I've stated before that Ted is Top Class and the article confirms it imo

[alydar_ David]

One question,Ted.

Do you play backgammon?