Until I retired, I was a mad inventor in the cinema business. I stated working in cinema when I was 13, doing mechanical design, electrical design, operating the mill and lathe, and building my own circuits.

That isn’t a typo. I was 13.

I was born to overly permissive hippy parents that did a lot of “leaving me to my own devices” and that was learning tech. I was writing software and designing circuits when I was 8, doing holography when I was 13, and just got more and more into tech.

I had help. They owned a hobby store that was located dangerously close to the special effects industry. Their customers taught me stuff, even gave me books. The guy that invented the Furby taught me some animatroics.

That Job in cinema was ~40 hours a week, after school and weekends. It paid $5 an hour, cash in 1979. That is worth about $800 a week in today’s money.

Don’t ask me what I spent all of it on, but some of it went to things like computers, lasers and synthesizers.

I wish I still had my ARP2600

My career was divided between R&D in general, and R&D for cinema.

For cinema, I invented cool things for cinematographers to use to help tell their stories. I received an Academy Award and an Academy Award nomination for a couple of those things, as well as an Emmy.

In general R&D I invented a useable color night vision system sensing systems, enhancements to computer vision and some other things.

Now, here near Bergerac France, I get to relax, Have new and great adventures with my wife, and enjoy life.