Like Tom Doak, the time I got to spend with RTJ senior is among my most cherished memories. You just don't get to speak to legends that often. BTW Tom, have you ever spoken to Geoff Cornish? He knew Stanley Thompson, I think.
Twice besides any normal interaction at ASGCA meetings - once at an ASGCA meeting and again at the 95 Ryder Cup - I got word that "Mr. Jones would love to say hello." At ASGCA, he had some business to discuss, and then regaled me with great stories of the old days, but at the Ryder Cup, he simply told some old stories, which I always find fascinating. BTW, some of them were about his education of his sons in the business, with Bobby and Rees standing right behind him signaling that it didn't really happen quite that way! I guess I will never know, but it is a great memory!
OT, but I still think a book of "Stories from the Road" by gca types famous and not would be a hoot.
As to his work, I think we have to put it into time perspective - as Tom notes, some of his courses were quite impressive technologically, and as Matt notes, he did set the stage for combatting increasing distance and Tour pro skills. But I think his work was also exciting at the time (if not now) because it was a new paradigm in design - the larger scale and heroic shots of his work compared to what went before had to excite the senses because it had rarely been seen before.
He wasn't dumbing down the courses, as he was still building difficult tests that golfers were associating as nearly equal to the historically difficult tests at Oakland Hill, Augusta, etc. that he was also remodeling. And, the legions of new golfers after WWII had no chance to play those courses, so playing a new course by the gca who altered those courses was a great thrill.
He found a style that adapted the best of traditional golf design to the obvious need to make courses suitable for more play than they had ever seen before. The big greens and big tees were great innovations for adapability, and a test of golf.
Say what you will, and favor other styles - knowing that the variety of styles now available from various gca's is at least partially a result of RTJ's expansion of the profession, too - but much of what he came up with is still bascially in use today, and still basically makes sense for most courses.