Letter 1 to Jim Williams

A thoughtful note from an analog great, and an uncommonly considerate engineer.

Application engineer Jim WIlliams was a great analog engineer and famous technical writer. After I sent him a letter with an attached article, he was nice enough to respond with a note. I replied with this letter, by FAX, a common way to communicate with Jim, as he did not own a computer until the day he died.

Jim Williams
Staff Scientist

Jim:
Glad you enjoyed the article. As to the price for the the balance, I have a problem accepting

cash, since I obtained it for nothing from my brother 15 years ago. He got it while at the U of Toledo. They were throwing it away. I took it apart, cleaned it and reassembled it. I think I was smart enough to not refinish it or commit any other rudeness. The balance is most probably post-WWII vintage. Brand new I believe they only cost $500. (About the worth of your time.)

In any event money means little to me as I would have a six-figure income if I bothered to work all year. This is in conjunction with 1) I live in a warehouse, 2) I find cocaine

hydrochloride very boring, 3) I haven't been able to find a wife (see reasons 1 and 2). So, profiting from a fellow professional would be rather repugnant to me. Do you have any idea how hard it is to dissipate wealth without real estate, drugs, or women?

No, money's out. There is however, glory. For me this would involve being able to say "Yeah, Jim Williams dropped over the other day. He took a fancy to this old balance I had laying around, so I gave it to him. What? Yes, that Jim Williams."

Being a contract engineer this comment would let me close the deal on many interviews. Just mentioning my respect for your work and renegade background got me one offer, (with Eric Bogatin).

Yep, just call ahead, drop over and pick the thing up. If you're happy with it you could answer the bonus questions: