All those nice memories shared by so many on the list!. IIRC, as with Bill Munson I first met Mike Cowlishaw at that same SHARE in 1990.
During dinner one night that week he shared one of his hobbies: he's a "caver" (one who explores caves). As then-chairman/ringmaster/ringleader of CAVMEN (the Chicago Area VM ENthusiasts regional user group) I, perhaps urged on by another CAVMEN present at the time, promptly named him an Honorary CAVMEN member. Mike has been awarded with many prestigious titles over the years, but surely being named an honorary CAVMEN member must "rank right up there"! ;-) I used REXX right from the start when it reached General Availability on CMS. What a joy! The excitement I felt when first reading about it is still a clear memory; what a sad commentary on what a geek I am. I could not bear (only a slight pun intended) the thought of performing sysprog work without REXX. Can you imagine still using EXEC2 every day as the only scripting language on CMS? EXEC2 was better than EXEC-classic, but there's just no comparison to REXX - or between REXX and pretty much any other scripting language. Thanks, Mike "for all the REXX"! No one mentioned LEXX!? Mike Walter Hewitt Associates The opinions expressed herein are mine alone, not my employer's. "Bill Munson" <william.mun...@bbh.com> Sent by: "The IBM z/VM Operating System" <IBMVM@LISTSERV.UARK.EDU> 02/18/2010 01:52 PM Please respond to "The IBM z/VM Operating System" <IBMVM@LISTSERV.UARK.EDU> To IBMVM@LISTSERV.UARK.EDU cc Subject Re: End of an era I will never forget my very first SHARE in 1990 at the Disneyland Hotel I was in a standing room only CMS session and the man standing next to me introduced himself as Mike Cowlishaw. I was in awe at the tender age of 38 back then. I was not even smart enough to grasp the impact of REXX back then. thanx Gabe for the info Bill Munson Sr. z/VM Systems Programmer Brown Brothers Harriman & CO. 525 Washington Blvd. Jersey City, NJ 07310 201-418-7588 President - MVMUA http://www2.marist.edu/~mvmua/ VM Project Officer - SHARE http://seattle.share.org/joinme http://www.linkedin.com/in/BillMunson Gabe Goldberg <g...@gabegold.com> Sent by: The IBM z/VM Operating System <IBMVM@LISTSERV.UARK.EDU> 02/17/2010 07:21 PM Please respond to The IBM z/VM Operating System <IBMVM@LISTSERV.UARK.EDU> To IBMVM@LISTSERV.UARK.EDU cc Subject End of an era Mike Cowlishaw, developer of the REXX language, author of several books, and IBM Fellow for quite some time, will take early retirement from IBM March 5. It's hard to exaggerate -- or even grasp, really -- how much REXX changed IBM computing and how those lucky enough to know REXX get their work done. While many people provided feedback, suggestions, criticism, etc. during REXX development, it was Mike's project. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/REXX says: REXX was designed and first implemented, in assembly language, as an ?own-time? project between 20 March 1979 and mid-1982 by Mike Cowlishaw of IBM, originally as a scripting programming language to replace the languages EXEC and EXEC 2[1]. It was designed to be a macro or scripting language for any system. As such, REXX is considered a precursor to Tcl and Python. REXX was also intended by its creator to be a simplified and easier to learn version of the PL/I programming language. Some Mike links: http://domino.research.ibm.com/comm/research_people.nsf/pages/cowlishaw.index.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Cowlishaw http://www.statemaster.com/encyclopedia/Mike-Cowlishaw http://domino.research.ibm.com/comm/research_people.nsf/pages/cowlishaw.bio.html ...and that's only four out of 31,200 Google hits on "Mike Cowlishaw". His email address will be m...@speleotrove.com. -- Gabriel Goldberg, Computers and Publishing, Inc. (703) 204-0433 3401 Silver Maple Place, Falls Church, VA 22042 g...@gabegold.com LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/gabegold *************************** IMPORTANT NOTE*****************************-- The opinions expressed in this message and/or any attachments are those of the author and not necessarily those of Brown Brothers Harriman & Co., its subsidiaries and affiliates ("BBH"). There is no guarantee that this message is either private or confidential, and it may have been altered by unauthorized sources without your or our knowledge. Nothing in the message is capable or intended to create any legally binding obligations on either party and it is not intended to provide legal advice. 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