Among Legends of the Game

Posted by stephens on May 19, 2009 in Events | 0 comments

I had the pleasure of spending some time with my former colleauges at GM Die Engineering yesterday. As I pass through the main work area to a conference room for a meeting, I see die standards books I contributed to 18 years ago. I grin, thinking back to those days. They were good times.

I see an apprentice training manual I wrote 15 years ago. My grin widens as I recall memories from the best job I ever had: training die engineering apprentices.

My grin widens to a full-on smile as I stumble upon four legends of the game; expert die guys that I have not seen in many years.

To put the experience into perspective, in my opinion, there is more die engineering talent, knowledge, and experience at GM Die Engineering than the rest of the global industry combined.

Huddled together was Dominic, Mark, Chris, and the genuine Mark. Dominic was one of my standout apprentices. I would put him in the top five designers on the planet. This guy has chops.

Mark was an assistant trainer for one of the apprentice groups. He co-taught Dominic as a matter of fact. Rock solid designer, Mark is.

Chris and I hired into the apprenticeship program together. We are like soul mates. He is my die engineering twin. For years, we worked together day and night. Chris and I spent 100 hours a week or more for years together doing what we were best at: engineering dies. I named my first-born son after Chris’ first born son.

The genuine Mark is one of the smartest people I know. A young gun back in the day. He was the youngest apprentice trainer in the history of the program and spent two seasons with me. My son’s middle name is named after Mark’s first born son.

This is a tough business that is getting tougher by the day. It was invigorating to me to spend some time with people that are like family to me. It warmed my heart to be among legends of the game, even if it was only for a few moments.