"I built my first computer when I was twelve in Amarillo, Texas. At the time I was into hardware because you couldn't really program things. No courses or books existed, and, as a twelve-year-old boy, I couldn't ask my peers for help. So, I pounded the doors at the local IBM sales office until a salesman took pity on me. After we chatted for a while, he handed me a Fortran [manual]. I'm sure he gave it to me thinking, "I'll never hear from this kid again." I returned the following week saying, "This is really cool. I've read the whole thing and have written a small program. Where can I find a computer?" The fellow, to my delight, found me programming time on an IBM 1130 on weekends and late-evening hours. That was my first programming experience, and I must thank that anonymous IBM salesman for launching my career." - Grady Booch (link)