Brion was the best colleague. I worked for him at IBM first on the Micro/370 project. He relied on his people to get the job done. Instead of meddling in our work, he spent his time dealing with outside forces. He shielded us from the interference of the management chain and others that wished to "contribute" to our project, especially those in IBM Research that valued highly their own ideas. He classified the project documents "IBM External Use Only."
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Brion's witty comments could be viewed as quirky, but they were thoughtful and right on target. During the phase of Micro/370 that required collaboration with others in IBM, both inside and outside the Research Division. he was asked to publish a diagram of the various groups involved in producing an actual chip. It would show the interconnections in terms of what each group would deliver to which other groups. Brion titled this diagram "Finger Pointing Chart." The label made explicit the real reason that others had demanded the document.
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Brion was more than a colleague to me. He probably was unaware of how I appreciated his and Donna's showing up at a surprise 50th birthday party for me and at a wedding celebration for our daughter Lili. I can only thank his spirit now for all the meaningful memories of my times with him.
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Dick Hadsell
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