Michael’s memorial service was held on August 21, 2016 at the Glaser Center in Santa Rosa. Michael’s wife, Irene Stratton, shares the video here in two parts:

Memorial Program

A PDF of the program can be viewed or downloaded here.

Transcript of Irene’s memorial talk during the service (PDF)

Transcript of Patti Stratton Jordan’s memorial talk during the service (PDF)

Michael’s life story as shared by Richard Mains during the service (PDF)

PostScript from Irene

In response to some expressions of concern for me, here is a bit about life after Michael.  Although it has been devastating to lose my beloved, and the grief process is ongoing, I want to reassure people that I’ll be OK.  We shared so much, but I have always had parts of my life that were separate from our couple-ness.  Singing in the choir, spending time with my wonderful friends, keeping involved with our kids’ lives, and pursuing interests that Michael didn’t share have now become the center of my life, instead of just part of it.  The gifts of music, nature, friends, and family nurture me and uplift me.  I’m not there yet, but I believe that eventually all of these will allow me to fully embrace this new phase of my life.

Obituary

Michael’s obituary, written by Irene, can be viewed or downloaded here. (PDF)

Tributes In Industry Publications

A memorial written by Linley Gwennap in Microprocessor Report, which Michael founded. (PDF)

EE Journal article by Jim Turley (PDF)

EE Times article by Rick Merritt (PDF)

Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA
Oral History Project, May 16, 2016

Video

http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102738140

Interview Transcript

http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/catalog/102738141

Presentations by Michael

Published on Apr 19, 2012 by Webvanta

Michael Slater, CEO of Webvanta (www.webvanta.com), gives a five-minute whirlwind history of computer technology

Talk for the Analy High School AP Computer Science Class

Comments from Friends and Colleagues

Search Facebook for Michael Slater, Sebastopol for many comments

Check out Michael’s Blog for April 4th, where you can hear Michael and friend Mark reminisce and hear his delightful laugh.

From Brian Berg:

Michael Slater: An Untold Story

Much of Michael’s newsletter inspiration, and many of his earliest writers, came from the Asilomar Microcomputer Workshop (AMW). I rode down to my first AMW with Michael and another friend in 1987, and I remember him talking about a newsletter he was planning to start later that year.  The rest is history. I am so very pleased that David Laws and others at the Computer History Museum (CHM) created an Oral History of Michael.  Anyone with a love of history should check out the rich archives of Oral Histories on the CHM website. May Michael’s name be remembered!

From Deena Monchick in response to obituary:

Our world is a better place because of Michael. From his innovative work that touched countless people to his impact on individuals he personally inspired. He & Irene were my first mentors. He taught me as much as I could consume, inspired a fascination w/ technology & helped me become the person I am today. Thank you, Michael. I will forever be grateful for you and your life.

From Nancy Pressel Alpert (comment on PT post):

Don and I have you in our thoughts and prayers. You are a blessing to many people. It has been hard reading your blog. Sometimes I think the most important thing we can do with our lives is to share our pain to help others. This is exactly what you are doing through this blog. You have taken something so raw and turned it into something beautiful. Thank you.
Sending lots of love, Nancy

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We will celebrate Michael’s life on Sunday, August 21, at 1:00pm at The Glaser Center in Santa Rosa.  The address is 547 Mendocino Ave, Santa Rosa, CA. Light refreshments will be served after the memorial. All are welcome.

It is not necessary, but I would appreciate it if you would let me know if you think you will be coming so I can get an idea of numbers – best way is to email me directly at irene@istratton.com.

Here is information about directions and parking:

Driving Directions

From US Highway 101 take the College Avenue exit. Proceed east on College Ave. to Mendocino Avenue and turn right. You will find us a block and a half down, on the right.

Parking

Metered parking is available on the street, and is free on Sundays.

There is also a public parking garage immediately behind our campus. This is the City of Santa Rosa Parking Facilities Seventh Street Garage. Our building is east of the parking structure. If you are driving from College Ave. and would like to park in the garage, continue past our building to the next traffic signal and turn right onto 7th Street. The parking garage is in the middle of the block, on the right.  There is a fee for parking, even on Sunday.

The rear courtyard gate will be open and you can walk directly from the garage into the courtyard, otherwise just walk around to the front entrance on Mendocino Avenue.

The post Michael Slater Memorial Service appeared first on Parting Thoughts.

He did get his 2 units of blood on Friday 6/10, and that did seem to make him somewhat stronger, but when they tested his hemoglobin after the transfusion, it had brought it up to 7.5, which is still very low.  It was clear that he needed more.

Sunday 6/12 Michael’s dear friend Mark, whom he has known since 7th grade, came to visit with his wife Pattie.  We had a wonderful time with them.  Because Michael has been so candid in his posts, I will share this: Saturday and Sunday brought another development that was pretty disturbing to see, Michael’s amazing brain was now really compromised.  He tried to complete some work for Webvanta that normally would have taken him an hour or two to accomplish.  I watched him struggle for hours and finally was able to talk him into allowing someone else to complete the task.  It was very, very hard for him to admit defeat, and very hard for me to insist.

Hospice agreed to pay for another blood transfusion and they scheduled it for Wednesday 6/15. Monday and Tuesday he was very weak, and sleeping a lot, but still able to talk and think, with a little help to keep his thoughts on track. We were so hopeful that more blood would bring his energy level back up. During this period of time Michael was still counting on having a big Garden Party to which many people from his Microprocessor Report days were invited, as well as local friends and family. His family and I were becoming more and more certain that he wouldn’t be well enough for such a thing.  On Thursday, it became apparent that the transfusion had not helped. His body was beginning to shut down.

We decided to cancel the big party, and just invite friends and family to come. By Thursday afternoon Michael was sleeping most of the time, with brief moments of wakefulness and clarity of thought. Friday was much the same, and by Saturday it was clear that he had few days left.  The gathering on 6/18 was lovely. Many close friends and family came by and took turns being with Michael to say goodbye and tell him of their love and appreciation of him.  We’re hopeful that he was able to hear and take in the words and love he was given. It was a great opportunity for people who were close to Michael to connect with each other, again, or for the first time.  I was able to just dip in and out of the party, taking breaks to cry or sit quietly, while others kept food and drink flowing.

In the early hours of Sunday, 6/19/16, Father’s Day, Michael passed away in his sleep. A great mind and generous heart has passed from this world.  Though his last week saw a precipitous slide in his condition, I am aware that it could have been so much worse for him.  Michael faced this cancer journey with such grace and courage, but his biggest fear was what he called “the End Game”.  He was worried that he would be in great pain and would linger long in that state. Thankfully, his pain was easily controlled by his meds, and his last days were mostly peaceful.

RIP, my love,  Irene

The post The End Game…. appeared first on Parting Thoughts.

Tuesday morning I awoke needing to go to the bathroom, and found a lot of blood in the toilet bowl. There were two more similar incidents before noon.

I’ll spare you the details, but the bottom line is that I had an active GI bleed. I had been set up to get another two units of blood, but with the active bleed, they canceled that transfusion.

At this point, around noon, there was deep concern apparent on everyone’s faces. One doctor wanted to send me to the ICU, but I didn’t actually qualify until another major crisis came on.

I think the prevailing view of the doctors was that there was a high chance I would keep bleeding until the end came. Fortunately, that didn’t happen.

Tuesday afternoon is something of a blur. I decided to go on Hospice; I did not want to die in a hospital, and they weren’t going to send me home as a regular hospital patient in the condition I was in.

I am now comfortably resting at home, and the bleeding seems to have stopped. It takes up to 3 days for everything in your intestines to find its way to the exit, so I will know in a day or two if the bleeding has continued.

Tomorrow (Friday) afternoon, I’m going to get 2 units of blood in the outpatient unit at Sutter Hospital. This transfusion should greatly improve my anemia, which would be a good quality-of-life improvement.

The post Transition to Hospice appeared first on Parting Thoughts.

After a morning of making calls to doctors and waiting for them to call back, we went to the ER at noon. I had high hopes of getting some IV antibiotics and going home, but that was not to be.

My white blood cell count was very high, and I was already on two different antibiotics. So they added more antibiotics via IV and gave me lots of fluid, along with a chest X-ray, an ultrasound, and blood work.

Another Stent Clean-Out

Based on the ultrasound results and an elevated Alk Phos level, they decided to do the biliary stent cleanout right away.
If you’ve been following along since the start of this story, you may recall that in November last year I had a plastic stent put in at UCSF, then in December it was replaced with a metal stent at CMPC. In February this year the stent was cleaned out here in Santa Rosa, and a plastic stent was inserted into the metal stent.

In Friday evening’s procedure, which is endoscopic and pretty much painless, they removed the plastic stent, pulled a balloon through the stent to clean it out, and then inserted another metal stent inside the first metal stent.

I went to bed Friday night with high hopes of going home in the morning. As long as my white blood cell count (WBC) was dropping, they expected to discharge me.

Antibiotic Challenges

Unfortunately, my morning blood test showed that the WBC had gone up 10%. It appears that the current antibiotics aren’t resolving the issue. The infection might be in an area with little blood flow, which makes it hard to reach, or my bugs may have developed resistance to the antibiotics I’ve been taking.

Given this situation, the hospital brought in an infectious disease specialist. She was very knowledgeable and clearly had spent time to understand my situation.

The biggest factor limiting the choice of antibiotics is a note in my chart that says “allergic to ampicillin.” Because of this, my doctors have always avoided all antibiotics that are related to penicillin. Since there were other good options available, the motivation to test a potentially serious allergy just wasn’t there.

Now, however, the situation is different; the alternatives aren’t doing the job. So they gave me a modest dose of IV Ampicillin, with the nurse standing by with rescue meds should I actually be allergic. Guess what? I’m not.

Monday’s Turn for the Worse

I went to bed Sunday feeling pretty good, and reasonably confident that the new antibiotics were going to do their magic and I’d be discharged.

Monday morning, however, had different ideas for me.

I got up to go to the bathroom, and made it literally less than 10 steps before I felt utterly exhausted and had to sit down. I had two more episodes like this during the morning, the last of which was truly scary, and my heart was racing, I felt unable to get enough air, and completely out of control.

It wasn’t quite a code-blue situation, but they called for what they called a rapid response team, which brought 10 or so nurses and doctors from various parts of the hospital. After some IV meds, I calmed down quickly and was able to sleep.

This crisis was due to very low red blood cell counts (hemoglobin of 7.1), so I got two units of blood and I feel enormously better.

So why was my hemoglobin so low? I have a GI bleed of unknown origin.

They did a CT scan, with some special modifications to detect blood flows, and they were not able to identify any bleeding. They did note many issues, however, ranging from growth of the metastases in the liver to new metastases in my lungs.

My Enigmatic White Cells

In general, the white blood cell count (WBC) goes up when your body is fighting an infection. The normal range is 4 to 11 (K/uL). On March 2, my count was 7.7, a perfectly wonderful value. But it broke out of the normal range on April 1, hitting 19.2.

Last week, my WBC was 36.9! As a result, the first session of my new chemo regimen, which would have been Thursday, was canceled. When we came to the emergency room on Friday, my WBC was 43.6, a value rarely seen.

My most recent blood work, Monday evening, shows a WBC of 72, something that none of the doctors, specialists, or nurses here has ever seen.

The infectious disease specialist visited again, and she was very confident that the infection was well controlled by the antibiotics, and that no infection could boost WBC numbers into this range.

Furthermore, I have not had a fever for 3 days, and it seems very odd to have an infection that drives WBC to unheard-of levels yet does not cause a fever or any of the other symptoms of fevers.

Tuesday

Once again, however, another morning brought a turn for the worse: bloody stools and very low hemoglobin.

I don’t have the energy to write up Tuesday’s story right now, but the bottom line is this: I have a very large GI bleed, suspected to be coming from the cancer in some way. I may be able write more later.

The post Back in the Hospital Again appeared first on Parting Thoughts.

There are many ways to answer this question, of course. Physically or emotionally? The short answer or the long answer? Where is the line before it becomes TMI?

Getting into details of how I feel causes little privacy gremlins in my head to jump up and down. Having gone as far as I already have with this website, however, I don’t see a good reason to stop at a particular level of detail.

When I started writing my cancer blog, my goals in writing as well as my drive to do so all came from wanting to record more of my thoughts for my family and close friends.

I was surprised when one person after another mentioned to me how valuable my cancer story will be for many people. In thinking about how deeply I wanted to go into the details of how I feel, I decided that including details is what makes personal stories both engaging and more valuable to other people.

Of course, not everyone really wants to hear the details. Here’s three different answers — pick the level of detail you want.

The Really Short Answer

I’m doing ok. Not great, but ok.

The Short Answer

I’m doing ok. For the most part, I’m able to do the things I want to do, though my energy level is lower.

For the past few months, I’ve had almost no pain. In recent weeks, however, the pain has come back.

As long as I don’t have a fever and my pain is controlled, I’ve been able to mostly stay in the moment and enjoy life. I have lots of grief moments and scattered hard days, but many great days too.

The Long Answer

I’m doing ok, though my prognosis remains poor. For the most part, I’m able to do the things I want to do, though my energy level is lower.

From mid-December, when my second biliary stent was installed, I had almost no pain until early May. In recent weeks, the pain has increased, and I’m now taking both methadone (an opiate) and dexamethasone (a steroid).

The biliary stent is prone to infection, and I’ve been on antibiotics for some time. Two weeks ago, I started getting moderate fevers and feeling generally worse. We added a second antibiotic, Flagyl, and within a couple days I felt dramatically better.

Now that I’ve been off the one-week course of Flagyl for a week, the same symptoms have come back, and I’ve just restarted the Flagyl for another week.

Nausea continues to be my most persistent side effect from the treatments I’ve had. I think this is due to the radiation treatments, since it came on strongly just as those treatments were ending. It is an annoyance and makes it harder to want to eat, but it is tolerable.

I’ve been able to eat anything I wanted, but in the past month or so it has taken more effort. I need to eat slowly, or my body tells me it isn’t going to swallow anything more. It makes for lots of pauses during meals, but it hasn’t kept me from eating.

Another side effect is numbness in the soles of my feet (peripheral neuropathy). Like the nausea, the neuropathy is annoying but ignorable. This is a side effect from the first round of chemo, which came on after a delay of months.

My emotional state is, in many ways, more under my control that my physical health — which is not to say that taking that control is easy. Focusing on making each day the best it can be and staying present-focused have helped me a great deal.

As long as I don’t have a fever and my pain is controlled, I’ve been able to mostly stay in the moment and enjoy life. I have lots of grief moments and scattered hard days, but many great days too.

Next?

How I feel varies greatly from hour to hour, day to day, and week to week. On Thursday, I start a new chemo regimen, and that will add a new set of effects, both positive and negative.

The post How Am I Feeling? appeared first on Parting Thoughts.

For my guest talk, each year I’ve improvised the presentation, feeling around for what was of interest. This year, I gave a three-part talk:

• A brief history of computing
• Programming on the web
• Computer science as a career

Caitlin Baker from the Analy film class was kind enough to record my talk and post the video:

I really enjoy connecting a bit with the students and sharing my perspective from 40 years in the industry. I have, alas, found it frustratingly difficult to get most of them to engage by asking or responding to questions during the class.

I’ve had the opportunity to get to know two of the students a little better: Luc Street and Izzy Ehnes both joined Webvanta as interns after my talks in previous years. It’s been great to have them be part of our little company.

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