I first met Prof. Knuth at a conference in 1995 where James Gosling and I gave a talk about Java, and at the same conference I told folks that I was leaving Sun

I first met Prof. Knuth at a conference in 1995 where James Gosling and I gave a talk about Java, and at the same conference I told folks that I was leaving Sun and joining a startup. Three years later, while talking to Don at a picnic, he said, "When I first met you I couldn't tell if you were really smart or really stupid." :-) He thought that being part of the original Java team would be the most exiting place to be. Then a couple of years later (2001, post dot com crash) he told me he had decided I had made a pretty smart choice, all things considered. That was a good day.