Jeri Ellsworth signed my C64 DTV

This is now my prized possession. A little bit about my "fan-boy"-ism over Jeri: her learning of electronics, in particular on the Commodore 64, paralleled my own. Self-taught and high motivated. Of course, she went on to turn her experience into that of a rather accomplished engineer. I went on another path. Even though we have never known each other, it is a great feeling of fellowship to me meeting someone who at one time had a similar historical time-line as myself. It is also indescribably humbling to meet her today knowing that she went so much further than I ever did but would have loved to travel myself.

Really, I feel this is what brings so many of us together in the spirit of Amiga. All of us have this self-motivated, self-taught experience, everyone who went various ways, but all ways which complement each other. Some of us came on-board later, or concurrently, with the spirit of self-motivated discovery and pioneering, always looking for something better than what we have in front of us; always looking at something in front of us wondering, "can it do more?" or "can what it does be done better?"; always hacking on one thing or another. Those giants, larger-than-life people -- who mostly do not see themselves that way -- who imagined, designed, and created the Amiga are true inspirations to people like myself, and people far better and experienced than myself, and it is upon their shoulders we stand.

My feeling of fraternity today with Jeri Ellsworth, Jens Shonfeld, and so many others is partly the generational connection and partly the spirit of self-discovery and endless exploration.