Personal secretaries used to be fairly common, and don't have to be viewed with disrespect. If you ever work in a large institution, you learn that the secretaries know more about how the organization works than you ever will, and can make your life much better. Most people accept that specialization and division of labor are part of the modern industrial economy.

Knuth is an oddball curmudgeon, and probably a bit autistic (watch his lectures), but he has managed to make the most of his strengths, and contributed to humanity with very little damage.