Career
Before working on his weekly newsletter, Hoefler was a publicist and reporter for Fairchild Publications, McGraw-Hill, Radio Corporation of America Corporation and Fairchild Semiconductor. From the mid-1970s until his death in 1986, Hoefler published a newsletter called "Microelectronics News," which was the definitive "tabloid" of the emerging American semiconductor industry but was also viewed as a "gossip sheet" by some. He published this newsletter for 14 years.
The Smithsonian"s National Museum of American History has most issues of the newsletter available for viewing on the internet.
Hoefler began his career in electronics journalism as a publicist for Fairchild Semiconductor in Mountain View. He subsequently worked as a reporter for Fairchild Publications, owner of Electronic News, and then held editorial positions with Radio Corporation of America Corporation and with McGrawHill.
Hoefler had been married to Louise Hoefler for 41 years at the time of her death. Louise died at the family home in Carmel Valley, Ca. in 1984.
Hoefler died at the age of 63 on April 15, 1986 after a lengthy illness.
Before his death, he was hospitalized for a stroke and slipped into a coma. He later died at Fort Miley Veterans Hospital in San Francisco, California. Hoefler donated his body to the University of California at San Francisco Medical School.