Wally epitomized the meaning of a true friend, always willing to listen, counsel and help regardless of the length or the reason for the beginning of the relationship. Many of you know him for his business talents in building Cincom and Terradata to the pinnacles that they achieved. I would like to share with you some of the anecdotal memories I have;
Ambassordial: Convincing talented “wire heads” and superb marketers like Robin Adair and Bob Flynn to move from England and San Francisco to Cincinnati and having them regret their having to leave the city. Many long and lingering friendships evolve for Carole and me from meeting all of you which we shall forever treasure.
Resourceful: After traveling around the world for Cincom, he returned to Cincinnati on Friday which, of course, meant that he spent the evening at the Blind Lemon. After he left late with a charming young lady who lived north of the City, I received an 11:00 o’clock A.M. telephone call on Saturday morning with the first words being “thank God”. I responded, Wally? He said, yes and continued with last night I was driving and saw more lanes than a bowling alley and thought it best to check into a motel. Upon waking this morning, I had no idea where I was, I looked in a drawer and found a Gideon Bible which was of no immediate help and the match cover advertised 136 Holiday Inns around the world. I thought if I could dial you without an area code, I knew I was close.
Humble: Upon receiving the Securities and Exchange Commission “Red Herring” for Terradata’s Public Offering, I called Wally to congratulate him upon becoming a millionaire to which he responded, what do you mean? I told him I multiplied the disclosure of the number of shares that he held and the offering price and arrived at the figure of One Million Dollars. Wally replied, “oh, I never was good at counting zeros”.
Generous: The half time barbeques on the deck at Loudon that enabled everyone to return to the Blind Lemon to finish what we started.
Father: The thrill of his reunion with Greg and his sister and pushing Matt’s baby carriage up and down the hills of Mt. Adams.
Creative: Secretly substituting the tape of Deep Throat for the NFL game that followed a Bengals away game.
These were but a few that came to my mind but there were many many more that have real significance though less humor.
Now that he has gone to that “Big Bar” in the sky, he will be missed by Carole, me, my sons, Todd & Brian, as well as all of you but he will never be forgotten.
Carole & Bruce B. McIntosh
Monday, February 9, 2009
Friday, February 6, 2009
Mr. Fun
I am so fortunate to have had Walt as my friend.
My life became larger and my heart bigger.
A very kind and gentle soul
He never raised his voice or his hand to anyone
Generous to a fault
If Walt had it - you had it
Always with a kind word
A compliment, a smile
He made each day a little easier, a lot brighter
His counsel was wise and gentle
He was "Mr. Fun" to The Hurricanes soccer team
And, I'm sure, to the Mt. Adams All Stars as well
I already miss our morning coffee
And football games and dreams and plans
Your memory is the only possible patch
For the hole in my heart
God speed my friend, God speed
Love,
Dan
My life became larger and my heart bigger.
A very kind and gentle soul
He never raised his voice or his hand to anyone
Generous to a fault
If Walt had it - you had it
Always with a kind word
A compliment, a smile
He made each day a little easier, a lot brighter
His counsel was wise and gentle
He was "Mr. Fun" to The Hurricanes soccer team
And, I'm sure, to the Mt. Adams All Stars as well
I already miss our morning coffee
And football games and dreams and plans
Your memory is the only possible patch
For the hole in my heart
God speed my friend, God speed
Love,
Dan
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Remembrance
Walt would not like all this adoration about him. His face would have more red on it than usual. In fact he would not approve of the technology being used to record it. Unless he could sell it, of course. I will be forever thankful to have been one of his friends for nearly forty years.
I met him at a Cincom "seminar". It was his favorite kind of venue. I am sure his bosses expected him to bring back orders for their flagship product, at that time a state the of art database management system, called Total. We were way too arrogant to be interested in a product similar to a database product project which we had been working on for a couple of years. What did interest us was a new, for both of us, teleprocessing monitor. When Walt described the software paging (Virtual memory paging was the really hot technology of the time) in the system, we were hooked. I doubt that Walt really understood or cared about the technology. In those days, it was considered that moving away from IBM hardware or software in any major way was hazardous to one's career health. The marketing manager for our account turned out to be one of Walt's best friends at IBM, Bob Pelstring. We survived and moved on.
That decision could have been disasterous for us, except for a couple really bright programmer types (at the time), named Mike Benson and Dave Clements, both of whom later became Cincom employees (I should have sued). That project brought me to Cincinnati many times over the next few years and it was all the back and forth that contributed to Walt becoming one of my lifelong best friends.
Walt was single in those early years, but I do not think that made much difference. When Miss Vicky came on the scene, Walt remained the same person we (and she) had learned to love and we all loved her, as well.
When Walt moved to Manhattan Beach and Teradata he was, if anything, easier to see more often. When I later was commuting from Orange County to Santa Monica and West LA, I had to stop every Friday, waiting for the traffic to clear, at Sausalito South and later at Sunsets, both in Manhattan Beach. There surprisingly was a period of time when we became partners in a new Venture. Unfortunate, our timing was awful as one of our down markets scared off all the venture capital guys just when we thought we were ready to close.
Walt was responsible for broadening my scope of friends. I made friends and
acquaintances at Cincom. I grew to know all the other principals in Teradata, as well as a group of social friends from Manhattan Beach. Unfortunately they were mostly Cal Berkeley alumni, but I like them anyway.
As we reached our more "Golden Years", we tried to keep up our friendship but less frequently. I no longer was at Sunset's every Friday, and he and his friends no longer came to Newport Beach for haircuts, etc., by the girls at the Balboa Bay Club barbershop. We tried to keep up each year at the Long Beach Grand Prix, but that got old so we just met at Clancy's for gambling and refreshments before and after the races.
The bottom line is that Walt was a very important part of my life and I thank God that He gave Walt to us in exactly the way that he did !
I met him at a Cincom "seminar". It was his favorite kind of venue. I am sure his bosses expected him to bring back orders for their flagship product, at that time a state the of art database management system, called Total. We were way too arrogant to be interested in a product similar to a database product project which we had been working on for a couple of years. What did interest us was a new, for both of us, teleprocessing monitor. When Walt described the software paging (Virtual memory paging was the really hot technology of the time) in the system, we were hooked. I doubt that Walt really understood or cared about the technology. In those days, it was considered that moving away from IBM hardware or software in any major way was hazardous to one's career health. The marketing manager for our account turned out to be one of Walt's best friends at IBM, Bob Pelstring. We survived and moved on.
That decision could have been disasterous for us, except for a couple really bright programmer types (at the time), named Mike Benson and Dave Clements, both of whom later became Cincom employees (I should have sued). That project brought me to Cincinnati many times over the next few years and it was all the back and forth that contributed to Walt becoming one of my lifelong best friends.
Walt was single in those early years, but I do not think that made much difference. When Miss Vicky came on the scene, Walt remained the same person we (and she) had learned to love and we all loved her, as well.
When Walt moved to Manhattan Beach and Teradata he was, if anything, easier to see more often. When I later was commuting from Orange County to Santa Monica and West LA, I had to stop every Friday, waiting for the traffic to clear, at Sausalito South and later at Sunsets, both in Manhattan Beach. There surprisingly was a period of time when we became partners in a new Venture. Unfortunate, our timing was awful as one of our down markets scared off all the venture capital guys just when we thought we were ready to close.
Walt was responsible for broadening my scope of friends. I made friends and
acquaintances at Cincom. I grew to know all the other principals in Teradata, as well as a group of social friends from Manhattan Beach. Unfortunately they were mostly Cal Berkeley alumni, but I like them anyway.
As we reached our more "Golden Years", we tried to keep up our friendship but less frequently. I no longer was at Sunset's every Friday, and he and his friends no longer came to Newport Beach for haircuts, etc., by the girls at the Balboa Bay Club barbershop. We tried to keep up each year at the Long Beach Grand Prix, but that got old so we just met at Clancy's for gambling and refreshments before and after the races.
The bottom line is that Walt was a very important part of my life and I thank God that He gave Walt to us in exactly the way that he did !
Walt-Simply The Best!
I met Walt in January 1973 at the Victory Parkway offices shortly after joining Cincom. His professionalism and gregarious nature were second to none. He welcomed me to Cincom and then invited me to the Blind Lemon.
Several years later at Cincom we had an opportunity to work together and in that setting, he mentored to our group and shared his experiences. On various occasions we would have an off site meeting, which usually lasted most of the day and turned into dinner. Walt would always pick up the tab. Once you were a friend of Walt's, you were a friend forever. He was the best!
Approximately seven or eight years ago, I met Walt for a drink in Long Beach, Ca. and it was like no time had passed. The same kind hearted, giving, sincere person I knew during my Cincom years. He was always concerned about you. I know the Good Lord will have a very special place for him in his kingdom.
Rick Hopper
Several years later at Cincom we had an opportunity to work together and in that setting, he mentored to our group and shared his experiences. On various occasions we would have an off site meeting, which usually lasted most of the day and turned into dinner. Walt would always pick up the tab. Once you were a friend of Walt's, you were a friend forever. He was the best!
Approximately seven or eight years ago, I met Walt for a drink in Long Beach, Ca. and it was like no time had passed. The same kind hearted, giving, sincere person I knew during my Cincom years. He was always concerned about you. I know the Good Lord will have a very special place for him in his kingdom.
Rick Hopper
A fond memory, from England.
Thank you for a wonderful memory for so many reasons.
1980 Cincinnati, Ohio. I was a 9 year old having recently moved to America and with a very strong British accent, being introduced to this larger than life character called Walt Muir who proceeded to invite me to my first American Football game. The Cincinnati Bengals versus The Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I remember being very excited but also a little nervous as I was the only child going along.
I remember about 9 or 10 people piling into this enormous brown convertible and heading down to the game. Not finding parking, Walt made his own, moving traffic cones and parking the very discreet brown convertible where the road works were. I remember thinking wow this is great in America you can park anywhere, not that I had ever paid attention to parking before in my life!
We then proceeded to the game and it was a party atmosphere the whole time. I remember thinking this is great, I am watching a sport that I have no idea what is happening and everyone is having a great time (might have been the beer!!).
Walt always checked that I was ok and enjoying myself, he also asked did I understand what was going on, which of course being British I said yes. The Bengals lost but what I remember most was the kindness, generosity and consideration that Walt showed to me. The way I will remember Walt or Mr Muir to me, is as one of the good guys who did win and had a great time doing it.
1980 Cincinnati, Ohio. I was a 9 year old having recently moved to America and with a very strong British accent, being introduced to this larger than life character called Walt Muir who proceeded to invite me to my first American Football game. The Cincinnati Bengals versus The Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I remember being very excited but also a little nervous as I was the only child going along.
I remember about 9 or 10 people piling into this enormous brown convertible and heading down to the game. Not finding parking, Walt made his own, moving traffic cones and parking the very discreet brown convertible where the road works were. I remember thinking wow this is great in America you can park anywhere, not that I had ever paid attention to parking before in my life!
We then proceeded to the game and it was a party atmosphere the whole time. I remember thinking this is great, I am watching a sport that I have no idea what is happening and everyone is having a great time (might have been the beer!!).
Walt always checked that I was ok and enjoying myself, he also asked did I understand what was going on, which of course being British I said yes. The Bengals lost but what I remember most was the kindness, generosity and consideration that Walt showed to me. The way I will remember Walt or Mr Muir to me, is as one of the good guys who did win and had a great time doing it.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Walt - A Wonderful Man!
Walt was an exceptional individual who truly made a difference in life. His jovial personality, zest for life, and genuine compassion for others contributed much to the lives of all those who were so very fortunate to have known him. He was generous beyond any one's expectations. If you needed $20, he would give you $40. If you were struggling with problems, he was always there to be a good listener, provide positive feedback, and encourage you.Walt taught and inspired others to excel,and he was an experienced "team player". He helped make our hard work become FUN. I am forever grateful to him for his constant inspiration, creativity, and tireless efforts during Teradata's formative years. He was a vital catalyst for building employee and investor confidence, which ultimately contributed to Teradata's growth and success.
When we lose a dear friend or loved one, an avalanche of memories suddenly pour down upon us. May all your special and personal memories of Walt become your treasures, forever present in your heart and mind. Walt's great soul never leaves us, rather his legacy and our memories live on, bringing us together over and over again.
"Happy Trails" dear friend, and please save a fast horse for me in that big pasture up yonder.
With love and many thanks,
Jack and Paula
Robin: Heartfelt thanks for starting this blog. It brought back lots of memories to read everyone’s comments. I remember several of you: from the good times at Wally’s, at the Blind Lemon, or just hearing Wally talk about you. When I first met Wally, I was about 24 years old, new to Cincinnati – no family or many friends, not even a car….just Scholar the Dog. As several of you mentioned, Wally was most generous, and took care of both of us for a while. We stayed friends over all these years and, when my husband and I had the opportunity to move to LA in 1993, we moved to Mt. Adams-by-the Sea (Manhattan Beach), and became neighbors again. One holiday back in the Glory Days, I wanted to tell Wally how much Scholar and I appreciated his friendship. My girlfriend Peggy could write in rhyme, so I asked her to write a poem for Wally….something that would tell the story of how he rescued Scholar and me. I found the poem in an old album. Thanks for the opportunity to share. -- Eileen
Ode to Wally
Circa 1972
Once upon a frosty morning in an earlier year
A fine young man in double-knits a little voice did hear
He checked under the street lamp, he was checking all around
He looked down at the sidewalk to trace this sorry sound.
“Help, help me,” cried the little voice, “my heart is all a-flutter”
You’re standing on my fingers, which are clinging to the gutter.
He spied an odd, disheveled lass, black curl and smiling tooth
Of all strange sights he’d ever seen, this was the most uncouth.
Now against his better judgment, he felt he ought to aid
This clearly fallen women who had supplication made.
He gingerly unwrapped his scarf from ‘round his proper neck
And lowered down a lifeline to this life-tossed human wreck.
She grabbed it with a vengeance, and held on very tight.
No sooner did he pull her up, she asked to stay the night.
She followed him right to his house where she pressed her nose
Against the front door where she stuck, like a thorn against a rose.
A child welfare social worker, so willing and so able
Her goals were just to save the kids, and be a pony in his stable.
The house was fun, the friends so cool, everything was just so regal
I agree, and the food was great, said Scholar T. Dog, the beagle.
Thank you for the best of times, never had to go too far
Just up the street, drinks on me, at the Blind Lemon bar.
New Verse (2009)
The friendship did last as the years went past
How lucky to be his friend
Wally will always be loved and missed
Until we meet again.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)