Will Crowther, the original author of this game, is one of the most down-to-earth, humble tech pioneers you could ever meet. Not only was he one of the two main programmers on the original ARPANet team, not only was he one of he best rock climbers on the East Coast in the 1960's, pioneering many climbing routes at the Gunks in NY State, a regional climbing mecca, but he was also the sole original author of this game that started it all.
I met him about twenty years ago, when he taught rock climbing in his spare time to Boston area climbers. He was smart. He loved to teach and give back, and he never talked about himself or his own accomplishments unless you knew the right questions to ask, and were aware of his impressive history.
Will seldom gives interviews. I've met some impressive people in my life, but to me, his focus on getting amazing things done over self-promotion left a lasting impression. I'm psyched that ESR brought this little piece of history back into the public eye, and shed a little light on such a role model in the process.
