Hello Mary Lu

Al Shugart: The Father of Storage Media

Every time you turn on your computer and your hard drive fires, or you use your digital camera to take pictures of your kids;  a little bit of Al Shugart is with you– even if you never knew it.

The word filtered down to me last week that Al Shugart had passed away about 2 p.m. Tuesday, Dec 19, at California’s Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula from complications from open heart surgery.

Many people have said a lot of things about Al, most of it is probably true. This probably came as a huge shock to his family and close knit group of people who worked for him at Al Shugart International, because Al other than being known for getting to work early to make the office coffee, was always doing things on his own without the exclusive protection of a group of handlers that most high-rollers have. Many of us had his personal phone numbers to call or email him when we needed to talk– and many of us took him up on his offer.

On a personal level, I took the news of Al’s passing very hard, even though Al and I had only had about a dozen or so conversations in the past few years. Why would I write about him? Because each of our conversations had a profound impact on my life. 

Al was the man who defied description; many have tried to pigeon hole him– and most have failed. Mike Cassidy’s Obit is probably the truest of those I’ve read. Why? Because Al was a real man, one of those men of a passing generation whom we are losing all too quickly. The lessons he taught us were never preached– he just lived them. He worked hard and played hard. He was one of the most open, honest and accessible VIP’s in the technology business. It was apparent after spending 30 minutes with him, he loved life as much as he loved business. He enjoyed the fact his success at Seagate and other businesses allowed him to achieve an elder statesmen status. He loved enabling good and smart people to follow their dreams with a reasonable amount of success, as much as he loved his family and friends– and his dog, Ernest.

From my perspective: Al was the man you came to when you needed a reality check, or a voice of common sense seasoned with years in the trenches. While he could be the consummate showmen, he had a BS detector like no other. For me, going to talk to Al was like going to have a talk with my own father. Business was business after all, so that part of the conversation was always serious. Al expected you to leave out the emotion, and have an ethical and honest answers ready. Because if you didn’t– you’d hear about it. But it was after you were done with the business end of the conversation, Al would always ask about how Dr. D and I were doing, because he genuinely cared about people.

For that I will always be grateful for the time he gave me and the lessons learned along the way. (Real Audio File)

To his family, friends and co-workers: You have our sincerest sympathies as you mourn Al’s passing. There will never be anyone like him. Al was an American Original. We all know about the way he changed world. We were all blessed to be touched by his honesty, ethics, vision, presence and that quirky sense of humor which taught us to pay attention to the world around us as much as business. I’ll miss those eyes.  To Rita and the kids–Thank you for sharing him with all of us.

Tags: Al Shugart, Al Shugart International, Seagate, Storage, Hard Drives