CHEC’s work had attracted enough attention that the Colorado and Arizona departments of natural resources each hired us to help them understand some of the plans in their states. While I was between reviewing two forest plans in western Colorado, I spent the weekend visiting the Gunnison National Monument and other scenic areas.
While I was driving around, I listened to the radio as underdog Los Angeles Raiders, led by quarterback Jim Plunkett (who Jim Monteith said was his roommate at Stanford), were beating the Washington Redskins in the SuperBowl. The game sounded so interesting that I went back to my motel to watch the last half, which meant I got to see the Apple 1984 commercial. The Macintosh looked interesting, but without a hard drive and a decent printer it wasn’t much use to us.
A year later, Apple began making its LaserWriter printer, the first affordable laser printer. As soon as I saw it and the range of fonts Apple was offering, I thought “calligraphy.” When in high school, I had met Reed College art professor Lloyd Reynolds, one of the most famous calligraphers in the world, and took a class in calligraphy taught by one of his students. I didn’t know it, but Steve Jobs had also learned calligraphy from Reynolds, and the experience had helped inspire his work on the Macintosh and LaserWriter. Continue reading
