| I had the delightful opportunity to speak with Wes in May-June of 2015 via telephone on a number occasions. I have been researching an image called the Digital Mona Lisa for many years, and in a round of searching last year, I came upon Wes's name in association with the creator of the Digital Mona Lisa, H. Philip Peterson, as they both worked on the TX-0 and TX-2 early computing projects. Wes was the project director as we all know. I decided to give Wes a phone, (and keep in mind I didn't know him prior), and see if he could help me learn more about Mr. Peterson. Once we started talking in that first phone conversation it was like I had known him for years.
A simply wonderful, engaging person that helped me learn more about Mr. Peterson but importantly I got to know about Wes and his vast interesting career, (being at a conference where Oppenheimer was part of the event, his early days at the Hanford nuclear facility, his contribution to the ARPA project and much more). Fascinating stuff from a fascinating person!! I also found out that Mr. Peterson's first name was Harold, but Wes said he liked to be called Phil and that Mr. Peterson was born in Utah, among other items. Wes asked me if my last name was of greek descent, which I am, and he proceeded to speak to me in greek. His wit and humor are two things I'll always remember about him, even from such a brief time we spent getting to know one another. He certainly was a computing pioneer. I hope that his memory is eternal and that we look to past to learn from the careers of others like Wes that paved the way forward. |