Paul Lutus has a wide background in science and technology. He designed spacecraft components for the NASA Space Shuttle and created a mathematical model of the solar system used by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory during the Viking Mars mission. Then, at the beginning of the personal computer revolution, Lutus switched career paths and took up computer science. His best-known program is "Apple Writer," an internationally successful word processing program for the early Apple computers.

In 1983 Reed College awarded Lutus the Vollum Award for Distinguished Accomplishment in Science and Technology, Oregon's most prestigious academic honor. Other recipients of this award include Nobel Prizewinner Linus Pauling, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and Linus Torvalds.

In 1986 the Oregon Academy of Science named Lutus "Outstanding Oregon Scientist," specifically for his efforts to transform the teaching of mathematics in public schools.

In 1988 Lutus cast off his lines and began what was to become a four-year solo circumnavigation of the world in a small sailboat. More recently, Lutus has divided his time between writing articles on diverse topics and exploring the wilder regions of Alaska to photograph grizzly bears.

• IES Journal, October 1976: P. Lutus (Space Shuttle related)
• Apple Writer / personal history
• Reed College / Vollum Award 1983
• Oregon Academy of Science "Outstanding Oregon Scientist" 1986
• Mountain Hermit Makes Apples "Sing" In Simple English — Wall Street Journal, May 3, 1982
• Sailing Solo Around the World Inspired Anti-Whining 'Care Ware' — New York Times, August 23, 1996
• Programmable Calculators (JPL solar system model reference)
• "Confessions" online (free world sail book)