Much thanks to Rick Merrill for bringing this to my attention.

In 1961, I was struggling with a freshman computer seminar at MIT. I just couldn’t figure out a key step to writing my first program. My father thought he could help me by taking me on a visit to a friend of his who worked at the IRS in Andover, MA. This friend showed me an IBM 1401 and its flashing lights. I don’t recall that the friend had any knowledge of programming, nor was he of any help in answering my question.

Eventually, I realized that I had all the knowledge that I needed. I just had to do it.

That first experience with computers was so traumatic, that I didn’t take another course using computers until my senior year. And the rest is history.