Most of the many stories which are told about the legendary analogue designer Bob Widlar, relate to his epic capacity for the sauce.
Not all, however. After he'd retired from National, having taken it to the No.1 slot in analogue, just as he'd previously done for Fairchild, Widlar retired to Mexico.
He frequently visited California, and the Mexican border guards got very exercised about his frequent cross-border comings and goings.
What principally fussed them was that when they asked him what work he did, Widlar replied "I don't work".
When Widlar told his pal, the great PR man Regis McKenna, about his problem, the two of them devised a solution.
It took the form of a business card from a company called 'Morgan Associates', named after the famous pirate Henry Morgan, underneath which were the words 'Bob Widlar, Highwayman'.
It did the trick. The border guards never bothered Widlar again. They assumed that the legendary designer of the 709 was a road-worker employed to maintain the highway.
TOMORROW: TEN SEMICONDUCTOR BREAKTHROUGHS
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