[gpl_list] FW: In memory of Roger Tomlinson

[Rachel Smith]

From: Nathalie Smith <Nsmith at esri.com>
Date: February 11, 2014 at 13:36:32 PST
To: nwro <nwro at esri.com>
Subject: In memory of Roger Tomlinson

	Roger Tomlinson meant a lot to many of us - a wonderful tribute
in the email below from Jack and Dale Honeycutt and a great video to
remember Roger by (singing with Dale & Clint Brown on the guitar).
Roger was 80 years old. 

	 

	http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjTMWgKQ-E4&sns=em

	 

	One of my favorite Roger quote.... At the UC SAG award
presentation: "Some call me the father of GIS.... And I think of Jack as
my son... that makes all of you in the audience today, my
grandchildren...." - or something like that.... I will remember him as a
kind, gentle, funny and very sharp man and always an inspiration.

	 

	Nathalie

	 

	Nathalie Smith | Regional Manager

	Esri | 606 Columbia St. NW, Suite 300 | Olympia, WA 98501 | USA 

	T 360-754-4727 ext 8958 | M 360-485-2371

	nsmith at esri.com | esri.com <http://www.esri.com/> 

	 

	From: Marty Balikov 
	Sent: Tuesday, February 11, 2014 1:18 PM
	To: Nathalie Smith
	Subject: Re: Sad news

	 

	there's so much to say but Jack And Dale have said it so well.
Dale's comments are close to my heart as it was my first project in
Redlands that brought us all together.  I thought you should see these
testimonials.

	 

	marty

	
	
	Dale Honeycutt <dhoneycutt at esri.com> wrote:

	 

	My good friend and hero died this weekend.  I first met Roger
Tomlinson 28 years ago when I first started at Esri.  He was hired by
Jack as a consultant on the largest project Esri had ever done to that
point (and, in fact, the largest most expensive GIS project attempted by
anyone) - figuring out how to run  MinuteMan missiles stuck on the back
of trucks around White Sands missile range like a herd of cattle, except
the probability that the herd could be found at a given location at a
given time was equal over a 10 year span.  Reagan was president and
perestroika was a couple of years away.  

	I was hired as the lead analyst for the project and I worked
off-site at a beltway bandit's satellite office on Hospitality Lane in
San Bernardino.  We were using Arc/Info version 2.0.  The project was
make-or-break for Esri and funded the development of version 3.0 (double
precision coordinates!) and the seminal version 3.2 which introduced
AML.  I told Jack I'd stay for a year tops - there was no way I was
going to live in Southern California.  That worked out well, huh?

	The first meeting I had with Roger and some other consultant guy
named Mike Goodchild did not go well.  I was obviously overwhelmed and
unsure exactly how to proceed, but I had some not-terrible ideas. We met
every couple of weeks - Roger and Mike flying down from Canada to forage
for fresh vegetables at Sizzler's salad bar.  Within a couple of months,
we were a well-oiled team.  I was able to bring in another consultant,
Gary Smith, who I worked with at Woodward-Clyde, a brilliant decision
analyst, and Esri hired Fritz Maher, a physicist, to be my wingman,
drinking buddy, and career saver.  (Marty Balikov joined us after a
couple of years and helped clean up our - that is, Fritz and my - act.
The bottles of fine ironic Russian vodka disappeared from the plotter
supply cabinet).

	It was a hard project for everyone, made more difficult by the
motley cast of contractors who thought their worth was measured by how
many spitballs they could throw at Esri.  Roger and Mike stood up for me
and our team time and time and time again.  They had my back, our back,
Esri's back. 

	Roger figured we had compiled the largest known GIS database at
the time (more than a gigabyte of data!) and had brought (or invented)
cutting-edge geographic decision analysis techniques to bear on
difficult problems.

	We completed the project and we were rewarded (penalized?) with
more work - this time running missiles around the country on railcars.
We built a nationwide population density surface and mapped every known
rail line in the U.S.  We then routed trains (carrying real or fake
missiles) around the U.S.  to minimize impact on population centers (as
if a nuclear war wouldn't be detrimental to our national health) and to
randomize locational probabilities.  Fritz always wondered what would
happen if a missile ignited accidently - would the missile explode or
would the train go down the track really really fast? 

	Sometime after the contract was over,  I got to go to Australia
to help our distributor with some big national geocoding project.  Roger
happened to be there and we went out for a fabulous dinner which he
convinced me I could put on my expense report.  I'm still paying for it.
The evening went late, we were well-lubricated, and we closed the bar
with a rousing rendition of Waltzing Matilda.

	Roger would always make a point to find me when he visited
Redlands, and I would hunt him down at the User Conference.  The bonds
we established those many years ago were strong and I always felt pride
and amazement that Roger considered me a geographer of worth.  Sitting
here now, I couldn't agree less.  

	He was a brilliant man, a kind man, he drove himself and others
to do their best, and he was always the first to stand up in a fight.
He was a geographer. 

	I miss him.  I've missed him for years.  

	And his ghost may be heard...
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjTMWgKQ-E4&sns=em> 

	 

		From: Jack Dangermond <JDangermond at esri.com>
		Date: February 11, 2014 at 12:10:01 AM EST
		Cc: Laura Dangermond <ldangermond at esri.com>

		It's with great sadness that I am letting you know of
the passing of our dear friend and colleague, Roger Tomlinson. This
happened suddenly over the weekend during his and Lila's annual
pilgrimage to Mexico.
		Roger was above all else a Geographer and always proud
to say that. He loved the field he invented and was so pleased to come
to Esri and help us in thinking through difficult problems. He had a
passion for staying current with the most recent technology and always
had insights that none of the rest of us had. He also loved the user
conference and the opportunity to both see and acknowledge the great
work of GIS professionals from around the world. He always said giving
the SAG (special achievements in GIS) awards was his favorite day of the
year.
		Roger both created and dignified our field with his
strong yet graceful spirit and insight. He invariably knew about what
was important. His vision of first thinking about and then designing and
building practical systems that created meaningful information products
will be part of his legacy. 
		With his passing a beautiful and bright light has gone
out in the world. Nevertheless I suspect his spirt and passion will live
on in all of us.
		
		He was my friend. I will miss him greatly.
		Jack
		
		His spirit will be missed by all of us.
		
		
		Sent from my iPad

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://omls.oregon.gov/pipermail/gpl_list/attachments/20140211/ac3a7c81/attachment.html>