On Sunday, computer industry pioneer Ken Olsen died but I really didn’t start thinking about it ’til yesterday. I was suddenly reminded that Olsen was one of my first big interviews when I got into journalism.

I was a young associate editor with InfromationWeek magazine. This was boomtown Boston of the “Massachusetts Miracle”-era and running the New England bureau for a somewhat influential technology magazine was not a bad place at all for a young man to be.

Olsen’s Digital Equipment Corp was pretty much the big dog in those days — more influential in that region than any company except maybe Lotus. DEC made minicomputers — computers much smaller than classic IBM-style mainframes. They were still pretty big and expensive by later standards but Olsen was a primary force in putting more computing power into the hands of actual workers, instead of a data center. He was also the force behind getting computing into the hands of mid-sized and even small businesses.

Some of those computers even found their way into the hands of individuals, helping spark the PC revolution — Bill Gates and Paul Allen are said to have written some of their first code hacking a DEC PDP-10. Sadly, Olsen vastly underrated the impact of the PC and DEC eventually fell behind the pack.

I was thinking today about the day I drove out to one of DEC’s estate-like campuses. I think it was Northampton, MA. They had originally floated the idea of sending a helicopter down to get me but the New England bureau of InformationWEEK magazine consisted of a couple of offices in a tiny professional building next to a Waltham, MA strip mall. We had no place for a helicopter to land.

Olsen was an imposing man, stocky and bald; he seemed bigger than he was. He was piercingly intelligent and, even while spearheading his company’s attempted charm offensive, it was still clear he didn’t have much patience for stupid questions. Still, he was unfailingly gracious — a CEO out of a more civilized age. He gave me about an hour — remarkable for Olsen at the time. Although we met a few other times, this would be the only time I was able to speak to him in any depth.

Ken Olsen was one of the most importing people who isn’t widely known. Good-by and godspeed.

Computer pioneer Ken Olsen dies