Brian LLoyd wrote:
Wayne was interesting to work for. He was aptly noted for being a cheapskate
and it turned out that was true. OTOH, one time when I was up there he took
me out to lunch and we had a great argument about the future of amateur
radio. (Several people in the office dropped in a dead faint when they
learned that Wayne actually bought me, an employee, lunch. :-) I was, of
course, suggesting that digital communications was the future of amateur
radio. He wasn't sure. Seems we were both at least part right because here
it is 18 years later and we are only just starting to see changes in the
communications landscape.
Anyway, he sure annoyed the hell out of everyone but you have to admit, he
had an effect on what we do and how we do it.
--------------------------
You say Wayne Green was a cheapskate. I take your word for that. My
impression of him was that he was something of an egomaniac as well--but
very smart! I got a dose of this at an early age. I was stationed in
Berlin ('60 to '62), and one of my duties there was to run the MARS station.
When "The Wall" went up, we were suddenly inundated with lots of visiting
firemen, and Wayne apparently wanted to be one too. I got a message that
Wayne and his wife would be making a quick overnight visit to Berlin two
days hence, and could I make a hotel reservation for them. The message said
he would also like to visit our MARS station. So I made him a reservation
at one of the nicer hotels in Berlin, and passed the word to the other 5 or
6 hams in the 592 Signal Co. that Wayne would be visiting. I also invited
several of the local DL's, and a half dozen or so showed up. Wayne came,
visited with us for only about 20 minutes or so, and then left. I never
heard from him again, but later I did hear that he had expected something
"more formal". I'm not sure what he really expected, particularly on such
short notice, but what can I say. I was a little miffed about that for a
while, but being only 19, perhaps I was a bit naive as well.
But Wayne was a rare fellow to say the least. And he was very
entrepeneurial as well. He was quick off the blocks to get into the
computer magazine business, and you may recall that when CD's (music) first
came out he was "Johnny On The Spot" with a pretty darn good magazine for
that as well. But he loved controversy. Half the stuff he editorialized
about in 73 had nothing to do with ham radio. I don't know if he really
believed all that stuff he was ranting about, but I wouldn't have wanted to
debate him on any of it either. At times I couldn't tell if I was reading
73 Magazine or The New Yorker! It was hard not to admire the guy though.
I'll bet he was interesting to work with.
Dave W7AQK
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