I wanted to mention that my dad was nothing like the sort of nerdy scientist that people have the stereo type image of. I mean he was the exact opposite.  But neither a macho he-man. He came across just as a regular guy. The only perceivable difference between him and the average Joe on the street was that he was a genius when it came to inventing Stuff that the USA government wanted. The Infrared Telescope, satellites using laser communication, the U-2 camera, plus tons of stuff that even to his family he could not say a word about.

I mean--he was not studying when he got home. As I knew him, he did his work at the lab at TRW and when he got home he did not think about it. But I knew that he and my mother were always thinking about how they were raising their children. That was their number one priority.