I heard about John’s passing a few weeks back.  I knew he wasn’t well but it still came as a shock.  I met John when I started at Xilinx in 1995 or so, working on the XC6200.  We immediately hit it off.  When he left Xilinx to start QuickSilver, I followed him.  While QuickSilver wasn’t long for this world, I still mark it as one of the best experiences of my professional career.  John and I became friends and would get together at conferences and whenever we were in the same town at the same time. He was always on top of things and a person I could talk about technology with for hours.  He was a rare combination of skill, accomplishment and a good heart.  He will be missed.  A nice article by Clive Maxfield:

John Watson: April 2, 1950 to April 5, 2019

By Max Maxfield | Monday, May 06, 2019