Doug Pulleyblank spent several early years of his outstanding research career at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, and so was my local colleague down the freeway. Larry Hyman was also at USC back then, and the UCLA and USC phonologists often met together for informal talks, usually at Larry's house. When Doug was the speaker it made me so happy to listen to his ideas, always presented with a wonderful sort of calm, warmth, and clarity. It gave me an optimistic sense of where linguistics was going. Doug soon moved on, but having him nearby was a wonderful aspect of my early career.
Another memory from back when: we were co-faculty at a summer linguistic institute run by the University of Girona in Catalonia. Doug brought his whole family and his three (really cute) kids were very nice about playing with my own rather younger tyke. A nostalgic memory!