33 Facts About Gary Kildall

Gary Arlen Kildall was an American computer scientist and microcomputer entrepreneur.

Gary Kildall is considered a pioneer of the personal computer revolution.

Gary Kildall was among the earliest individuals to recognize microprocessors as fully capable computers.

Gary Kildall was born and grew up in Seattle, Washington, where his family operated a seamanship school.

Gary Kildall's father, Joseph Kildall, was a captain of Norwegian heritage.

Gary Kildall's mother Emma was of half Swedish descent, as Kildall's grandmother was born in Langback, Sweden, in Skelleftea Municipality, but emigrated to Canada at 23 years of age.

Gary Kildall earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics in 1967 and a master's degree in Computer Science in 1968, both from the University of Washington.

Gary Kildall fulfilled his draft obligation by teaching at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.

Gary Kildall briefly returned to UW and finished his doctorate in computer science in 1972.

Gary Kildall returned in the afternoon and tried to move the discussion with IBM forward, and accounts disagree on whether he signed the non-disclosure agreement, as well as whether he ever met with the IBM representatives.

Gary Kildall accepted that someone else in his group might have been on the same flight, and noted that he flew back to Seattle to talk with Microsoft again.

Gates' impression of the story was that Gary Kildall capriciously "went flying", as he would later tell reporters.

Gary Kildall accepted, believing that IBM's new system would not be a significant commercial success.

Gary Kildall worked on an implementation of the Logo programming language.

Gary Kildall hoped that Logo, an educational dialect of LISP, would supplant BASIC in education, but it did not.

Gary Kildall resigned as CEO of Digital Research on 28 June 1985, but remained chairman of the board.

Gary Kildall co-hosted a public television program produced by PBS called Computer Chronicles.

Gary Kildall co-hosted the program for seven years during the first eight seasons from 1983 to 1990.

In 1984 Gary Kildall started another company, Activenture, which adapted optical disc technology for computer use, using as reference the Red Book developed by Sony and Phillips in 1980.

In 1992, Gary Kildall was invited to the University of Washington computer science program's 25th anniversary event.

Gary Kildall took offense at the decision to give the keynote speech to Bill Gates, a Harvard dropout who had donated to UW, but had never attended.

The memoir, which Gary Kildall sought to publish, expressed his frustration that people did not seem to value elegance in computer software.

Gary Kildall had completed a rough draft of the manuscript by the end of 1993, but the full text remains unpublished.

Gary Kildall self-described as a "greaser" during high school, and his colleagues recall him as creative, easygoing, and adventurous.

In later years, Gary Kildall privately expressed bitter feelings about being overshadowed by Microsoft, and began suffering from alcoholism.

Gary Kildall's Austin house was a lakeside property, with stalls for several sports cars, and a video studio in the basement.

Gary Kildall owned and flew his own Learjet and had at least one boat on the lake.

Gary Kildall owned a mansion with a panoramic ocean view in Pebble Beach, California, near the headquarters of DRI.

Gary Kildall was pronounced dead at the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, on July 11,1994.

Gary Kildall's remains were buried in Evergreen Washelli Memorial Park, in north Seattle.

Stewart Cheifet, his co-host on Computer Chronicles, said that Gary Kildall was his "favorite guy" and praised his skills and contributions in the development of personal computing.

Gary Kildall wasn't a killer business kind of guy", adding that he was "a decent man in a business that was hard to succeed in if you were decent.

In March 1995, Gary Kildall was posthumously honored by the Software Publishers Association for his contributions to the microcomputer industry:.