Stan Kelly-Bootle
Liverpool-born Stan Kelly-Bootle joined the Young Communist League (YCL) in Liverpool circa 1943, becoming a Party member at Cambridge University around 1950. He was, as he puts it himself, `exposed to computing, on and off and vice-versa, since 1953′ when, after graduating in Pure Mathematics at Cambridge University, he entered post-graduate work on the EDSAC I. After working for IBM and Univac in the 1960s and 70s, Stan opted for self-employment as a consultant, writer, folk-song revivalist and after-dinner entertainer.
He describes this start of this trajectory, thus: `It was, I guess, the late 1950s, early 1960s when Robeson came to London en route from medical treatment in Moscow. As a minor but "emerging" left-wing Folk Song Revivalist – active with the Workers’ Music Association – with other Trades Unions, (I) organized a Paul Robeson Concert at St Pancras Town Hall.’
His monthly DA ("Devil’s Advocate") column ran in UNIX Review (aka Performance Computing) from 1984 until January 2000 and now lives on as SODA ("Son of DA") via www.sarcheck.com the homepage devoted to UNIX performance. The latest of his many books are "The Computer Contradictionary" (MIT Press) and "UNIX Complete" (Sybex). More on his biblio- and disco-graphy can be found on http://www.feniks.com/skb/ .
Source: Son of Devil’s Advocate May 2000, Stan Kelly-Bootle
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