Alan Ackerman

Alan was a favorite colleague.

Dear Betsy and family. I am sad to hear of Alan´s passing. I met and danced with him from the early seventies onwards at UC Berkeley, was in a small informal performance dance group to protest the Cambodian bombings with him at that time, more recently dancing English country dancing and enjoyed his company always. May he Rest In Peace and Tranquillity With Love, Erik Schutter

I used to do Scottish Country Dance with Alan in the Berkeley Intermediate class. He always had a big smile, and was a lot of fun to dance with! I'm glad that I met him. I like spending time with people that laugh a lot. I am sorry for your loss, Betsy!

I am very sorry to hear of Alan's passing. I knew him for many years via SHARE and the z/VM community. His humor and personality made him a favorite of my work related friends. I always fondly thought of him as our "absent-minded professor", who always loved to get into a philosophical discussion about some detail of mainframes, especially z/VM. I read in his obit that he loved being a grandfather, and I'm sure he was a terrific one. My sympathy to everyone in his family at your loss.

Alan was one of my customers, and I considered him one of my friends. My condolences to the family. He was witty, and sometimes silly, and often insightful. I think of him as having two laughs. One was more childlike, a little snicker. And the other laugh was louder, and seemed less controlled. I remember him laughing often. He laughed with you, not at you. We'll miss you Alan.

I found your advice and commentary on how to manage a grouchy IBM mainframe exemplary. Even perfect and spot on.