Through the Interface

6 responses to “John Walker leaves us”

1. 

   BillyH

   February 8, 2024 at 8:05 pm

   "...nor met the love of my life"

   You mean AutoCAD Object ARX?

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   1. 

      Kean Walmsley

      February 8, 2024 at 8:13 pm

      I'm leaving that one open to interpretation. 🙂

      (It wasn't what I had in mind, but now that you mention it...)

      Reply
2. 

   David Cohn

   February 8, 2024 at 10:46 pm

   I got to spend a considerable amount of time with John in the early Autodesk years, when I became the senior editor of CADalyst magazine (originally founded as an AutoCAD magazine) and also became one of the first AutoCAD third-party developers. My career also would have been much different had it not been for John and AutoCAD. I probably would not have quit practicing architecture had I not become more fascinated by the capabilities of this little CAD program, would not have moved to Vancouver, Canada to join CADalyst, would not have started a software company, would not have written more than a dozen books... the list goes on. John may not have written the original code that became AutoCAD (that was the work of Mike Riddle), but John was the visionary and driving force behind what has become one of the most significant programs and one of the largest software companies in the world.

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3. 

   Jerry Milana

   February 9, 2024 at 1:44 am

   Sad news indeed. I owe John/Autodesk for meeting the love of my life as well. (NOT Object ARX)

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4. 

   Gary Yost

   February 9, 2024 at 1:54 am

   Although I never worked with John, he was a huge supporter of what we were doing and 3d studio and max would've never happened without him. I will always remember the many beer busts in that big corner room on the second floor of 2320 Marinship Way in Sausalito and how John would bring the most interesting things to show and tell about. Once he brought some crazy superconducting material in a container refrigerated by liquid nitrogen. He demonstrated how the Meissner Effect can cause the material to levitate using a magnetic field. Was nuts... I was in awe of John. Did you know that he once wrote a book about how to lose a massive amount of weight called "The Hacker's Diet?" When he started Autodesk he was a very large person and one day he decided just to use the "calories-in-calories-out" math on himself and he lost at least 100lbs very quickly and AFAIK that was permanent. And even though he was super rich, he always drove an old Honda to work because status was absolutely not his bag. RIP John Walker, a very decent person and brilliant man.

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   1. 

      Kean Walmsley

      February 16, 2024 at 10:24 am

      It's great to hear from you, Gary. The "Yost Group" is legendary, and while I was never on the Media & Entertainment side of things, I was always in awe of your team's work.

      I did know about The Hacker's Diet! John really was an incredible person - I know his non-Autodesk work also helped people a lot, whether relating to diet or learning French (1.

      I would see him driving around the area, from time to time, in his old Japanese car (I think he moved onto another brand when in Switzerland, perhaps Toyota?), and I also reflected on how he lived a very simple existence (one I recall him describing as hermit-like).

      Kean

      Reply