Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Lost two of my heros

This month I lost two of my heros: Steve Jobs and John McCarthy. As a child, I dreamed of being Steve Jobs. I admired him for what he accomplished and his impeccable showmanship. I learned so much from him and his vision. I'm sad that I will never be able to meet him.

When I got older and learned about how Xerox Parc and John Engelbart inspired the Mac, I found Lisp. My love affair with Lisp goes back to college when I didn't quite understand it, but thought it was strange yet elegant. The light eventually went on and the true power of macros and functional programming was eventually revealed. To this day, there is a source of amazement that comes with Lisp and I thank John McCarthy for that. I wish I could have met him as well.

I can't express how I much these men touched my life without ever meeting them. They both hit the ball so far out of the park that they will be revered for generations to come. The bar has been set and I plan on standing on their shoulders. Thank you.

1 comment:

Ram said...

Hi Blaine,
Hope things are going well. I was sad when I heard John McCarthy's passing away. I don't know if you read this webpage of his but it's very interesting:
http://www-formal.stanford.edu/jmc/progress/


Ram Nukala