>> Not a nice man
I worked for Jack in the early 70s, when we launched the PET, VIC20 and the Greenline calculators in Europe. Many thought of him as "not very nice", but those of us who worked for him found him to be very supportive. We built devices in Eaglescliffe on the outskirts of Teesside.
My young son was taken seriously ill during a visit from Jack to the factory and, as Jack heard about it, he marched into my office and said, "What are you doing here? As of now, you have family leave of indeterminate length". A couple of days later, he came to visit in the hospital and brought with him all sorts of non-Commodore goodies for my son. He was definitely a ruthless businessman, but a softie at heart and his product was top-class and excellent value for money.
If you research Jack's family life, you will find a tale of extreme suffering and loss of close family members.
RIP a big and good man.
Colin