Yesterday at the ballgame, Mom gave me a copy of an article Dad wrote in 1987 about the then-nascent idea processor category. He didn’t mention that his sons (Peter and I) had written the programs he was writing about.

Dad loved outliners, and it was a thrill to know this and at times a little embarrassing. 🙂

I created a PDF scan of the article and uploaded it to the blog here, for posterity.

BTW, the Mets won in extra innings, 1-0. We couldn’t stay, opting instead for a delicious Chinese dinner on Main St in Flushing instead. Let’s go Mets! 🙂

I was just searching for the Money Magazine article he wrote, and came across his Wikipedia profile.

It has been one year (Oct 3rd, 2009) since Leon died. But his presence is with me all the time.

Brian Weiss suggests that when one passes the soul seeks another person to inhabit, usually an about to be born baby. Well Maria, my next door neighbor had a grandchild about a month after Leon died. I hypothesize that that infant, Joey is where Leon’s soul now resides. A sweet, bright and curious baby.

During this year I have been part of a meditation group led by Rabbi Michael Weisser at the Free Synagogue of Flushing. It has been a very healing experience. I cherish it. The Rabbi was using a watch which he propped in front of him to keep time. So I gave him a clock that Leon had been using to time his meditation. Now Leon (at least his clock) is in the midst of us every Tuesday evening. The one light in the room seems to shine upon this clock. I feel his presence.

This year I have undertake various spiritual and hopefully healing journeys. I believe that Leon is guiding my choices and is in some way participating in these experiences.

Namaste dear departed friend, and all.

This article appeared in a Pace University magazine shortly after Dad started teaching there.

Click on the image above to read the article.

It’s now been a few months since Dad died, but there isn’t an hour that my thoughts don’t turn to him, and then quickly turn away. I don’t know how to deal with a death so close.

Every once in a while a picture pops up and I spend a moment thinking about my father and what it means that he’s gone. I come up empty. I have nothing.

But this blog gives me a place to make something of his life, at least in the form of words and pictures.

This picture must have been taken in the early 60s. It’s a gathering of my mother’s family. In the top row: Lucy Kiesler, Leon Winer, Eve Winer, Ken Kiesler. Seated: Rudy Kiesler, Peter Winer, Dave Winer.

Dad wearing a Frontier t-shirt somewhere in the tropics:

This is cross-posted from Scripting News, written by Dave.

There’s a meme going around about fathers and the coolest things they did when you were growing up.

Since Father’s Day on October 3, I guess I’ve been reflecting on this stuff more than usual, and I have a story prepared. But first, my father actually had an opinion about this, he told a story that embarassed me about how he taught me to kiss. But I’m sure I thought it was cool when I was a toddler. Kids go for that kind of stuff. But the word we’re looking for is “cool” and from my point of view, as an adult, here’s the coolest thing my dad did.

Probably 1970 or 71. I was more than a bit of a rebellious teenager. So one day I got suspended from high school for bringing a bottle of wine to school. I was drinking with some friends in the yard before home room when the Dean of Discipline, Joseph Cotter, comes walking out, takes the bottle, escorts me to his office and calls my father to come get me. My dad drives to the Bronx from Queens, and I thought for sure I’m really going to catch it now, cause not only was I drinking wine in school, but it was his wine. I had stolen it from him. Oy.

Well, my dad comes in, and instead of giving me shit, he tells off Cotter. He says why don’t you leave the kids alone. My chin dropped to the floor. I couldn’t believe my eyes and ears. I thought I had moved to a different planet. The Dean thought so too, he was speechless. (He and I were enemies, I was, as you might imagine, and a major troublemaker. He thought he had me, but heh he no he didn’t.)

So that has to be the coolest thing. On the drive home we talked about baseball and the weather, and he never punished me for taking the wine.

Update: Cotter died in Y2K.

Mom posted this on her blog.

“Many years ago Leon acquired an outer LLBean jacket the he liked very much. So much that he wore it every chance he could. In the neighborhood, in the city, on vacations and even skiing even though he had a proper ski outfit. After a while I was finding it excessive and asked replace it.

“He tried to accomodate me and first asked LLBean if they had another one exactly the same. Well it was no longer in stock but they had a similar model. Leon tried it. Was not satisfied. He went to different vendors and sent all the versions back. He continued to wear his original jacket. It was machine washable so looked relatively presentable.

“Then I had a stroke of luck. The zipper broke. Now he would have to replace it. Well not exactly. He complained to LLBean and they replaced the zipper. So I gave up and he wore it to his dying days.”

Taken on 6/21/06.

Leon with a huge cup of coffee and pie, after a long day of hiking with Eve in the Swiss Alps.

1980 Africa: Doing laundry in a river	Downtown Manhattan	Downtown Manhattan
Visit to the Cloisters	Visit to the Cloisters	Visit to the Cloisters
Visit to the Cloisters	Visit to the Cloisters	Boatride around Manhattan
Boatride around Manhattan	Boatride around Manhattan	Boatride around Manhattan
Boatride around Manhattan	Boatride around Manhattan	Boatride around Manhattan
My first fisheye lens	My first fisheye lens	My first fisheye lens
My first fisheye lens	My first fisheye lens	Eve in 1981
Apples (new, improved fisheye)	Hiking	WTC
WTC	Eve in Great Neck	Planting Fields
Michael Rockefeller Wing at MMA	Michael Rockefeller Wing at MMA	Michael Rockefeller Wing at MMA
Michael Rockefeller Wing at MMA	Michael Rockefeller Wing at MMA	National Gallery in Washington, DC
National Gallery in Washington, DC	National Gallery in Washington, DC	National Gallery in Washington, DC
National Gallery in Washington, DC	National Gallery in Washington, DC	National Gallery in Washington, DC
National Gallery in Washington, DC	National Gallery in Washington, DC	National Gallery in Washington, DC
National Gallery in Washington, DC	Long Island Museum	Long Island Museum
Visiting Peter in Columbus, OH	Visiting Peter in Columbus, OH	Visiting Peter in Columbus, OH
Visiting Peter in Columbus, OH	Tokyo: Imperial Palace	Asakusa Kannon Temple in Tokyo
Asakusa Kannon Temple in Tokyo	Asakusa Kannon Temple in Tokyo	Asakusa Kannon Temple in Tokyo
Asakusa Kannon Temple in Tokyo	Asakusa Kannon Temple in Tokyo	Asakusa Kannon Temple in Tokyo
Chinzan-so Garden 3 Story Pagoda	Meiji shrine	Wedding party
On the Ginza	New Otani Hotel	On the way to Nikko
On the way to Nikko	Avenue of lanterns	Shinto arch
5-story pagoda	Temple guardian	Temple guardian
Elephants	School girls	School boys
Monkeys	Archer	Japanese tourists
Japanese bundles	Sacred bridge	Rock garden
Chusan-ji temple	From the train on return to Tokyo	From the train on return to Tokyo
Views of Tokyo from our hotel	Views of Tokyo from our hotel	Views of Tokyo from our hotel
Views of Tokyo from our hotel	Bus ride to Kamakura	Bus ride to Kamakura
Daibutsu (Great Buddha) bronze	cast in 1252 A.D. 93 tons 44 ft. high	Lake Hakone
Lake Hakone	At Kowaki-en Hotel, Lake Hakone	At Kowaki-en Hotel, Lake Hakone
Pictures from the Bullet Train	to Kyoto	Cloisonné in Kyoto
Cloisonné in Kyoto	Walk back to the hotel	Kyoto street
Kinkaku-ji Golden Pavilion	Heian Shrine	Heian Garden
American Japanese fam. – our group	Biggest Buddha – 450 tons	Thumb 5 feet long
Other big statues	Other big statues	Other big statues
Stone lanterns	Kyoto at night	Garden at Imperial Palace
Nursery school	Nijo Castle	Nijo Castle
Nijo Castle	Cheer leaders	Woman praying in temple
Ryozen Kannon (created Japan)	New friends	New friends
Demonstration of tea ceremony	Kyoto at night	Kyoto in the morning
Kyoto in the morning	Kyoto in the morning	Bus ride to Beppu
Hotel room in Beppu	Hotel room in Beppu	Hotel room in Beppu
From the hotel room	From the hotel room	Japanese group
“Hells” of Beppu (steaming pools	or fumaroles)	More fumaroles
More fumaroles	More fumaroles	Beppu zoo
Beppu zoo	Beppu zoo	Beppu hot springs
Beppu hot springs	More pictures in Beppu	More pictures in Beppu
More pictures in Beppu	Walk around countryside of Beppu	Walk around countryside of Beppu
Walk around countryside of Beppu	Walk around countryside of Beppu	Walk around countryside of Beppu
Bus ride across Kyushu island	Bus ride across Kyushu island	Suizen-ji Park in Kumamoto
Suizen-ji Park in Kumamoto	Suizen-ji Park in Kumamoto	Kumamoto Castle
Exhibits in Kumamoto Castle	Exhibits in Kumamoto Castle	Exhibits in Kumamoto Castle
Exhibits in Kumamoto Castle	Exhibits in Kumamoto Castle	Exhibits in Kumamoto Castle
Drive to Amakusa	Terrace farming – rice	Waiting for the ferry to Unzen
On the ferry	Fumarole in Unzen	Views of Nagasaki from hotel roof
Views of Nagasaki from hotel roof	Walk about Nagasaki	Walk about Nagasaki
Walk about Nagasaki	Mei-ji Village –	formerly
all-foreigner settlement	Old Mitsubishi dock house	View fr. Old Mitsubishi House
Monument to Christian martyrs	Madame Butterfly statue	Two young women
At Peace Park in Nagasaki	At Peace Park in Nagasaki	At Peace Park in Nagasaki
At Peace Park in Nagasaki	Vending machine – no ID required	Walk about Nagasaki
Walk about Nagasaki	Walk about Nagasaki	Walk about Nagasaki
Walk about Nagasaki	Walk about Nagasaki	Nagasaki fish market – no odor!
Nagasaki fish market – no odor!	Nagasaki fish market – no odor!	Nagasaki fish market – no odor!
Nagasaki fish market – no odor!	Nagasaki fish market – no odor!	Nagasaki fish market – no odor!
Nagasaki fish market – no odor!	Nagasaki fish market – no odor!	Osaka – the new Nikon F3
Osaka – the new Nikon F3	Osaka – the new Nikon F3	Osaka – the new Nikon F3
Osaka – the new Nikon F3	Osaka – the new Nikon F3	Flight to Tokyo
Old Westbury Gardens	Old Westbury Gardens	Old Westbury Gardens
Old Westbury Gardens	Old Westbury Gardens	Old Westbury Gardens
Old Westbury Gardens	Old Westbury Gardens	Old Westbury Gardens
Berkshire Gardens	Berkshire Gardens	Berkshire Gardens
Berkshire Gardens	At Sootins in Pittsfield	Near Sootins
Pittsfield graveyard	At the Clark Museum – Williamstown	At the Clark Museum – Williamstown
From top of Killington	From top of Killington	Picture named Jap.JPG.

• Our husband, father, grandfather, a teacher, mountain climber.

• Recent Posts

  • Leon Winer on idea processors (1987)
  • Dad’s Wikipedia profile
  • One Year
  • Pace Profile of Dr. Leon Winer
  • Two pictures of Dad
  • Coolest thing my father did
  • Leon’s jacket
  • Leon self-portraits at age 77
  • Leon in Switzerland with coffee
  • 1982 Japan
  • 1980 Africa
  • Leon with a cat
  • 1979-81 Mexico, Guatemala
  • 1978-79 Greece, Madison
  • 1976-78 Italy