G.R. Grace Emlin
Latest update:
Turns out, Bell Labs had a pseudo-employee G.R. (Grace) Emlin, that
was extensively used for pranks & inside jokes. She was successfully
added into most official databases at Bell Labs & even received
physical mail.
G.R. Emlin was thanked and acknowledged in the K&R C book:
Date: Mon, 20 Jul 2020 09:42:01 -0400
From: Doug McIlroy <doug-bJGkzYaaMJvEkZP4S/TgZg@public.gmane.org>
Newsgroups: gmane.org.unix-heritage.general
Subject: G R Emlin
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Message-ID: <202007201342.06KDg1Ex033163@tahoe.cs.Dartmouth.EDU>
Coming upon this dedication in W.B. Yeats's book, "Irish Folk
stories and Fairy Tales", I felt a frisson of connection: "Inscribed
to my mystical friend, G. R." Mystically present in the Unix room
and on the 1127 org chart, G. R. Emlin took a place in our little
community akin to that of fairies in Irish peasant culture. First
encountered by Fred Grampp, G. R. manifested to others in various
guises, ranging from Grace Emlin, whom I remember as a security guru,
to a Labs-badged apparition now housed in the corporate archives
(www.peteradamsphoto.com/unix-folklore/). My most memorable personal
encounter was when I received from G. R. a receipt for paint for the
water-tower project (spinrooot.com/pico/pjw.html) as part of a request
for reimbursement. I passed the voucher up the chain of command to
our executive director, Vic Vyssotsky. Unfortunately for G. R., Vic,
despite his masterful ability to bypass bureaucratic obstacles,
declared he wasn't authorized to approve plant improvements.
Date: Mon, 20 Jul 2020 12:35:35 -0700
From: Andrew Hume <andrew-bPOo9+o6fsBBDgjK7y7TUQ@public.gmane.org>
Newsgroups: gmane.org.unix-heritage.general
Subject: Re: G R Emlin
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Message-ID: <62C59B48-7FD2-4125-A302-A6A55401349C@humeweb.com>
at one point, Bell Labs instituted a new policy to segregate
contractors by making them wear a greenish badge. they marked the
occasion by sending round a memo showing what the badge would look
like.
as soon as i got my copy of the memo, i immediately went to Brian
Kernighan’s office so we could ridicule this administrative
missive. except, i found him cutting the fake badge out and was faking
a G. R. Emlin name plate. Brian remarked that Vyssotsky had already
been round earlier suggesting the same idea. the fake badge was good;
Jon Bentley used it a couple of times to enter the building.
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Authors: ag