Topics discussed include: Eugene Gordon's move from Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) Plasma Physics group to Bell Telephone Laboratories, 1957; consultant to Ali Javan's group on gas discharge physics; first laser researches with Allan D. White and J. Dane Rigden; discovery of the visible He-Ne line, theoretical model for granularity of the spot, erroneous identification of the line; paper on masers, 1964. Comparison of and interactions between research and development scientists at Bell Labs; development of research devices, ancillary facilities and reliability programs, funding; Gordon as supervisor. The single-frequency portable laser; the Holmdel group. The argon-ion laser, work with William Bridges, Ed Labuda, William Bennett's talk on pseudo-CW lasers at American Physical Society meeting. Alan White's tuning prism; the electro-optic modulator and origins of mode-locking. Administrative decisions at Bell Labs about experimental projects; Gordon's duties as head of optical department. Work on acousto-optic deflection of light; applications of the argon-ion laser to medical research; development of diode lasers for room temperature operation. History of Journal of Quantum Electronics, Electron Devices Transactions, the Quantum Electronics Council, and CLEA.