I find it interesting that Pirsig was into programming too.
I investigated the extent of his interest in programming, and I found a couple interesting tid-bits:
(1)
At the time of publication of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Pirsig was an
unassuming writer of computer technical manuals. This does not necessarily imply an interest in programming, but I would not be surprised in the least if he did engage in some programming.
(2)
He was of German and Swedish descent.
(3)
In 1958, he became a professor at Montana State University in Bozeman, and taught creative writing courses for two years.
(4)
In 1974, Pirsig was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship to allow him to write a follow-up, Lila: An Inquiry into Morals (1991), in which he developed a value-based metaphysics, Metaphysics of Quality, that challenges our subject–object view of reality.
(5)
A Critical Analysis of Robert Pirsig’s Metaphysics of Quality