<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
</head>
<body>
<p>I invited Kurtz to give a keynote at VCF East in 2012. He
graciously accepted. It was a thrill to meet him, because I grew
up on BASIC (via Apple II, C64, etc.) and still use it today!</p>
<p>My biggest mistake during 15 years leading VCF was that I didn't
have his lecture recorded. :(</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 11/21/24 12:54 PM, Annette Vee via
Members wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:CAKTS_pLBpgUTFedYwVzBzwd5xZA+2gRnH0mjE=WBdkMfWq=8YQ@mail.gmail.com">
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
<!-- BaNnErBlUrFlE-HeAdEr-start -->
<style>#pfptBannerktaph6l { all: revert !important; display: block !important;
visibility: visible !important; opacity: 1 !important;
background-color: #ff922d !important;
max-width: none !important; max-height: none !important }.pfptPrimaryButtonktaph6l:hover, .pfptPrimaryButtonktaph6l:focus {
background-color: #d48a5b !important; }.pfptPrimaryButtonktaph6l:active {
background-color: #ac816b !important; }</style>
<!-- BaNnErBlUrFlE-HeAdEr-end -->
<!-- BaNnErBlUrFlE-BoDy-start -->
<!-- Preheader Text : BEGIN -->
<div
style="display:none !important;display:none;visibility:hidden;mso-hide:all;font-size:1px;color:#ffffff;line-height:1px;max-height:0px;opacity:0;overflow:hidden;">
Hello, SIGCIS, Folks here likely saw this, but I didn't see it
come through (apologies if I missed it). Thomas Kurtz, who
developed BASIC and the Dartmouth Time-Sharing System (DTSS)
with John Kemeny, passed away last week, at 96. NY Times</div>
<!-- Preheader Text : END -->
<!-- Email Banner : BEGIN -->
<div
style="display:none !important;display:none;visibility:hidden;mso-hide:all;font-size:1px;color:#ffffff;line-height:1px;max-height:0px;opacity:0;overflow:hidden;"></div>
<!-- Email Banner : END -->
<!-- BaNnErBlUrFlE-BoDy-end -->
<div dir="ltr">Hello, SIGCIS,
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Folks here likely saw this, but I didn't see it come
through (apologies if I missed it). Thomas Kurtz, who
developed BASIC and the Dartmouth Time-Sharing System (DTSS)
with John Kemeny, passed away last week, at 96. </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><a
href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/16/technology/thomas-kurtz-dead.html__;!!DLa72PTfQgg!McndxL0dk_LxAVU6xByk0RDdCZxkP_0gxv-3e4i9qqJ-evnW8ZXPNBeMgWBTgmH0yjspw-elNAYkfUm2Trg$"
moz-do-not-send="true">NY Times obit</a>: “At Dartmouth,
long before the days of laptops and smartphones, he worked to
give more students access to computers. That work helped
propel generations into a new world.”</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><a
href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://faculty.dartmouth.edu/artsandsciences/news/2024/11/remembering-computing-legend-thomas-kurtz__;!!DLa72PTfQgg!McndxL0dk_LxAVU6xByk0RDdCZxkP_0gxv-3e4i9qqJ-evnW8ZXPNBeMgWBTgmH0yjspw-elNAYkLzniqRg$"
moz-do-not-send="true">Dartmouth obit</a>: "Dartmouth had
the largest open-stack library in the world at that time in a
college of this type, and the concept of open-stack computing,
that was my idea," Kurtz said. "Thatʼs one of the few ideas I
had that Kemeny didnʼt have." [he was modest, and deeply
admired Kemeny!]</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><a
href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://computerhistory.org/blog/in-memoriam-thomas-e-kurtz-1928-2024/__;!!DLa72PTfQgg!McndxL0dk_LxAVU6xByk0RDdCZxkP_0gxv-3e4i9qqJ-evnW8ZXPNBeMgWBTgmH0yjspw-elNAYkCHfO8vM$"
moz-do-not-send="true">Computer History Museum obit</a>:
"DTSS was the earliest successful, large-scale timesharing
system, a remarkable achievement. [...] DTSS was unveiled on
May 1, 1964, along with BASIC. By that fall, hundreds of
students were exploring BASIC on the 20 terminals around
campus."</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>People on <a
href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42141761__;!!DLa72PTfQgg!McndxL0dk_LxAVU6xByk0RDdCZxkP_0gxv-3e4i9qqJ-evnW8ZXPNBeMgWBTgmH0yjspw-elNAYkwDXhxCo$"
moz-do-not-send="true">HackerNews</a> are paying their
respects by mentioning the influence of BASIC on their lives
and careers.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>I interviewed him in 2017. He was so generous, and as
brilliant as you'd expect. He wrote me a memo on "Grammatical
Simplifications in BASIC." He loved memos--was an academic
mathematician at heart, even at 89! I wrote about the
interview here: <a
href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://annettevee.substack.com/p/thomas-kurtz-basic-and-computing__;!!DLa72PTfQgg!McndxL0dk_LxAVU6xByk0RDdCZxkP_0gxv-3e4i9qqJ-evnW8ZXPNBeMgWBTgmH0yjspw-elNAYkKzYgbNs$"
moz-do-not-send="true">https://annettevee.substack.com/p/thomas-kurtz-basic-and-computing</a> and
also in 2023, in a critical code studies article, "<a
href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.digitalhumanities.org/dhq/vol/17/2/000696/000696.html__;!!DLa72PTfQgg!McndxL0dk_LxAVU6xByk0RDdCZxkP_0gxv-3e4i9qqJ-evnW8ZXPNBeMgWBTgmH0yjspw-elNAYknsvlGdU$"
moz-do-not-send="true">BASIC FTBALL and Computer Programming
for All</a>” </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Other great work on BASIC that many here already know:</div>
<div><a
href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYPNjSoDrqw__;!!DLa72PTfQgg!McndxL0dk_LxAVU6xByk0RDdCZxkP_0gxv-3e4i9qqJ-evnW8ZXPNBeMgWBTgmH0yjspw-elNAYkgEEkeKU$"
moz-do-not-send="true">The Birth of BASIC documentary</a>:
from the 50th anniversary of BASIC, in 2014. </div>
<div>Rankin, J. (2018) A People's History of Computing in the
United States. Harvard: Harvard University Press.<br>
</div>
<div>Montfort, N. et al. (2014) 10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1));:
GOTO 10, Cambridge: MIT Press.<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Annette</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>
<p
style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:12pt;margin:0in;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif">Annette
Vee</p>
<p
style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:12pt;margin:0in;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif">Associate
Professor of English</p>
<p
style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-size:12pt;margin:0in;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif">University
of Pittsburgh</p>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
</div>
<br>
<fieldset class="moz-mime-attachment-header"></fieldset>
<pre wrap="" class="moz-quote-pre">_______________________________________________
This email is relayed from members at <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://sigcis.org__;!!DLa72PTfQgg!McndxL0dk_LxAVU6xByk0RDdCZxkP_0gxv-3e4i9qqJ-evnW8ZXPNBeMgWBTgmH0yjspw-elNAYk_izEbG8$">https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://sigcis.org__;!!DLa72PTfQgg!McndxL0dk_LxAVU6xByk0RDdCZxkP_0gxv-3e4i9qqJ-evnW8ZXPNBeMgWBTgmH0yjspw-elNAYk_izEbG8$</a> , the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/__;!!DLa72PTfQgg!McndxL0dk_LxAVU6xByk0RDdCZxkP_0gxv-3e4i9qqJ-evnW8ZXPNBeMgWBTgmH0yjspw-elNAYk9hD-K8Q$">https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/__;!!DLa72PTfQgg!McndxL0dk_LxAVU6xByk0RDdCZxkP_0gxv-3e4i9qqJ-evnW8ZXPNBeMgWBTgmH0yjspw-elNAYk9hD-K8Q$</a> and you can change your subscription options at <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org__;!!DLa72PTfQgg!McndxL0dk_LxAVU6xByk0RDdCZxkP_0gxv-3e4i9qqJ-evnW8ZXPNBeMgWBTgmH0yjspw-elNAYkBjlYJPw$">https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org__;!!DLa72PTfQgg!McndxL0dk_LxAVU6xByk0RDdCZxkP_0gxv-3e4i9qqJ-evnW8ZXPNBeMgWBTgmH0yjspw-elNAYkBjlYJPw$</a>
</pre>
</blockquote>
<div class="moz-signature">-- <br>
Evan Koblentz
<p>
New Jersey Institute of Technology<br>
- Senior Writer, Office of Communications and Marketing<br>
- Adjunct Instructor, Ying Wu College of Computing<br>
- Advisor, NJIT Lego Club</p>
<p>
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:evank@njit.edu">evank@njit.edu</a><br>
(973) 596-3065<br>
<a href="https://web.njit.edu/~evank/"
class="moz-txt-link-freetext">https://web.njit.edu/~evank</a><br>
</p>
</div>
</body>
</html>