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One year ago today, February 7, 2005, I lost a very good friend, George Johnson. He died peacefully, sitting on his sofa, in the living room where I had spent many, many hours talking, listening to music, playing music, drinking, eating and laughing. A whole lot of laughing! I first met George in late Spetember, 1972, when he interviewed me for a position at the University of Maryland, where he worked. I was a nineteen year-old, still wet-behind-the-ears electronics technician; barely able to solder two wires together. Somehow, I managed to impress him with my knowledge of Ohms Law, and complete lack of experience, and he offered me a position in the UMBC Electroncs Shop at the amazing annual salary of $6700. There is no possible way to represent, in words, the scope and depth of the things that I learned from this man. There was no one better at designing analog circuitry. George could find a way to count one-cell animals, measure pH, or count the number of times a pigeon pecked at a feeder bar. I like to think that some of that rubbed of on me. There were no problems that could not be solved with a handful of transisters, resistors, diodes, and a 5-volt power supply. The list of his inventions is very impressive, and I am only hinting at it below:
There are very few days that do not bring some thought of George. I worked with him at UMBC for about 13 years. He was part of my life, my family, and my heart. George also made me part of his family. I watched his three lovely, intelligent girls grow into impressive adults, with families of their own. This page is just one way for me to keep my friend in my heart; and, in a small way, to share him you you. This page will change over the coming days, as I find new images and words to honor my friend George. Should you have anything that you would like to share with the visitors to this page, feel free to email your contributions. As you read this, I ask that you raise a glass of your favorite beverage, mine is a wee dram of Speyburn, 10 year-old scotch, and wish my old friend Godspeed... |
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| (circa 1975) One summer, a bunch of folks form UMBC decided to take a rafting trip on the Youghigheny River. We all camped at Ohiopyle State Park, and had a great time. The river trip was great fun, inspite of some long-lasting back injuries for at least one of us. (Me!) The evenings around the campfire were a blast. We laughed until our sides hurt. | ||||||
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| (late 1970s) One of the most enjoyable times I ever spent with George, and some friends from UMBC, was a day trip to the wilds of northern Baltimore City, to the Lake Roland resevoir. We floated around the various nooks and crannies of this Victorian component of the Baltimore City water system. We probably were'nt supposed to be there, no permits and all, but we had a wonderful time. And, no, there is nothing in George's fingers, and you can't prove that there ever was! | ||||||
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| While at the University of Maryland, we had the honor, and pleasure, of know a great number of talented people. One of them, an artist name Tim Ford, sent this modified version of the picture to me with the following message "...We had a lot of fun with that guy, tell you one thing. here's a memory that I hold fondly...unlawful boating in the Balto Reservoir System." Tim had surrounded us with faces of some of the PhDs that George made instruments for. A bunch of papers were written based on data collected from instrumentation that George designed and built. | ||||||
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| (circa 1980) There was a time, back in the day, when my house on Guilford Avenue in Baltimore City was THE place to party. There were few months that went by, when we had decided that there was some reason to get together to play poker, jam with our guitars until sunrise, or celebrate a calendar holiday. One year we decided to throw the biggest stinkin' Halloween party that this town had seen. George was the kind of guy who was always in for a penny, in for a pound. On the left, George (aka Obiwan) is conspiring to commit a felony, and on the right, it looks like he is escaping form the scene of a felony! | ||||||
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| (June 21, 1981) George was an important part of my life and I could not imagine celebrating my second (aka Final) wedding celebration. Here is is pictured with two of his lovely daughters, Marni and (I think) Linda. And what can you say about that handsome gentleman on the right?! | ||||||
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| (July, 1991) As I mentioned, we were blessed to be at UMBC when so many talented and exciting people were working and studying there. While very few of us would have ever considered George to be a saintly person, a photographer friend of ours, Chris Peregoy, once cast George in a different light. A rather ethereal, divine light. This was the image from the fornt of an invitation to one of Chris's annual bashes in the country. Like I said, in for a penny, in for a pound... | ||||||
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Farewell my good, good friend. You
will always be in my heart.
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Copyright © 2007 by Richard Johnson
