I’m not a great writer by any stretch of the imagination, but I felt it necessary to put something up here. Don Ingraham, or Dad as I used to call him, was a truly great person, touching so many people’s lives and making me into the Dad I am today. He passed away yesterday, December 12th 2008, at the age of 71 after a 6 year battle with Alzheimer’s.
When I learned that Dad had Alzheimer’s, I didn’t think much of it. I didn’t know much about the disease and couldn’t tell any changes in him over the phone. It wasn’t until I came home for Thanksgiving in 2002 that I was able to spend some time with him and my Mom and realize exactly what was going on.
Alzheimer’s is a bitch. It must be the worst disease to attack a family there is. Car accidents, Cancer, they all suck. But with Alzheimer’s, you have to watch your Dad slip away, one day at a time. I mourned for him once already when I knew my Dad was gone. Now I’m going through it again.
If there is a light at the end of the tunnel, it’s this. For the last 5 years after caring for my Dad and watching him leave us, all my memories were of him with the disease; forgetting who I am, forgetting to eat, forgetting how to take care of himself. Since he passed, all I can think of are the good times we had together; the trips to Disneyland, the mornings he’d bring me to hockey practice, the way he raised us. Watching old videos and scanning in old photos the last 24 hours has really left a great memory inside. I can finally mourn him properly.
The Life of Donald Ingraham
Don was born on September 19th, 1937 in Berkeley, CA. At the time he had a brother, George, and his parents Aubrey and Bill, and later gained a sister, Marjorie. They lived in Oakland, CA for most of his life.
In 1950 he went to Oakland High School where he was a classmate of Frank Oz and David Carridene. He picked up a love for puppeteering and magic and was one of the creative designers behind Children’s Fairy Land in Oakland. He went to college at UC Berkeley graduating with his JD and passing the State Bar exam in 1962.
In 1963 Don was drafted by the US Army as a 1st Lt Judge Advocate. The army took him through Georgia, Virginia, Korea, Vietnam and finally ended up in Washington DC as a Captain assigned to the Pentigon. He left the Army in 1967, returned home to Oakland and joined the District Attorney’s office.
Don stayed active with theatre and design and eventually met Terry during a performance. They married in 1974, moved to Alameda and had two boys, Lawrence and Andrew. Terry owned a dance studio and expanded it to include children’s theatre, which Don did the logo design and assisted with the sets. The studio has since relocated to Campbell, CA.
Don retired from the Alameda County District Attorney’s office in Oakland, CA in 2001 where he lead the High-Tech Crime Team and was the host of the Video Unit. Over his 30+ year run with the DA’s office, he was responsible for creating a multitude of laws and policies for handling computer crime, years before the internet. He is probably most well known on the internet for his appearance on the Geraldo Rivera show back in 1992, where he defended the government’s stance on prosecuting hackers.
Here’s a clip from 1991 presenting to the Computer Security Conference in Miami. This was probably when he was at the top of his game, and what he teaches in this segment about social engineering and network security is still being taught today.
That’s the man you’ll find if you Google him. But that doesn’t tell you much about him as a person. I’m hoping I can share that side of him with you now.
My Dad
The one thing I remember most about my Dad was his sense of humor. He’s the guy that keeps a rubber pig nose in the glove compartment so if he pulls up at a red light next to a car full of kids he can put it on. He taught me the trick while waiting in line at Disneyland you can unlink the red rope from the pillar and connect it to someone’s pocket. I hope that someday I can be on par with him.
Illustrations were always a big thing for him. I always saw him doodling on something, napkin, tablecloth, menu, etc. He had a great eye for designing things that were easy to recognize and memorable. He’s actually the guy that designed the flag for the City of Alameda. I remember the year that the flag was introduced; during the 4th of July, he bought out all of the little flags he could find. I wish I had one still.
He always had love of teaching. Watching these videos, I’m in awe at how polished he is at articulating a point and keeping an audience’s attention. Most of all, he loved teaching kids. He was active in the Boy/Cub scouts and was a sunday school teacher at our church growing up. Every lesson would someone turn into a craft project, hands on learning.
Disney was a huge part of his life. He had a collection of old Disneyland maps, dating back to the first year it opened in 1955. When we used to go to the park, I remember the two of us making fun of the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse, so much so that when they eventually closed it down to remodel into Tarzan, I bought him a leaf for his library. I’m fortunate enough to have that leaf now, and an animation cell from Puff the Magic Dragon, in my office.
He loved books, books were everywhere in his life. He could spend hours at a book store, even a small store with only a few hundred books needed a visit. I remember how he’d perk up whenever one would come in sight and start saying “book book book” over and over like a chicken. Funny that I really have to force myself to sit down and read.
A Lasting Impression
I’ve put together an album of photos I found around the house that were special to me. I’ll be adding to it if I find anything else, something like a gallery of all the great memories I have of my Dad.
http://sharemyalbum.com/DonIngraham
I’ve also set up a YouTube channel for any videos I find of him. There’s only a few up there now, and obviously the material is out of date, but you can see what a master of presentation he was.
http://youtube.com/DonIngraham
I’ll leave you with my favorite, the closing sequence from his retirement show with the DA’s office. It’s based on one of his favorite movies “A Field of Dreams”. I’m not really sure why he loved that movie so much. Maybe it’s James Earl Jones, he always loved his voice. Or maybe it’s the idea that after we’re done here, there’s a better place in the field where you can relax. I’m sure he’s there now, in the cornfields with his Pig nose firmly attached.
took the Flip concept and improved on it, most notably with image resolution. Where the Flip records at 640 x 480 VGA, the Zi6 does 720p HD at 60 fps. That’s a pretty huge jump in resolution while keeping the price just about the same, $180 or so. There’s also the ability to take still photos and it uses SD HC cards for expandability. Very nice. That’s all it took for me to pick one up.
but it’s a little too big for taking with me everywhere. Also, because it records to miniDV, it’s a bit more work to import the clips. I’ll still use the HV20, but only for home videos and planned events.
for stills, but that’s overkill for casual pictures for me. I’m more interested in how it compares to my iPhone, since I always have that with me and use it for most photos. The iPhone still has a great little camera for Twinkle posting and taking pics while I’m out, but I’m hoping the Zi6 will be a little better.
in there, so I can record a few hours of HD video no problem. I got it on Amazon for $20 or so, can’t believe how cheap these things are now.
I’ve been an iPhone user since the price drop last year. No I wasn’t lined up at launch, I’m in a contract with work that I couldn’t get out of. But everything aligned with the price drop, and I can’t look back. I always had my iPhone jailbroken, just my nature I guess, so I’ve been playing games on it far before the app store was announced. I’ve had a fun time with 
What’s unique about Trism is the use of the iPhone’s accelerometer to control gameplay. After you clear blocks, the holes that are left get filled in with other blocks nearby. You control which way the blocks slide by tilting the iPhone. That means you get to look like a fool flinging your phone around in public, which is always a good conversation starter.
