Mike Crawford Is Dead, Contributed to Mac System 7.5.X and Activist
Some of you might know him on the west coast. He worked for Apple fixing/debugging System 7.5.X and attended Cal Tech. He was an activist for the mentally ill and homeless. He was openly bisexual and open about his schizoaffective disorder. His Facebook page.
I had helped him with his project Soggy Jobs which is unfinished. It was his project he needed a business model for.
He was on CNN about the taking away of tax credit from software engineers.
He was a member here at Hacker News.
He had serious physical illnesses that made him suffer and he took his own life.
I was an online friend of his, and I too suffer from schizoaffective disorder.
His wish was not to be forgotten to be remembered through his works. To at least have a Wikipedia article written on him or some other Wiki. Wikipedia named him non-notable about ten years ago. But if you met him, he'd always show you respect and even if he disagreed with you he was nice about it.
takyon: Here is MDC's last post on Warp Life, and Last Will And Testament. User page. Twitter.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 26 2019, @08:48AM (1 child)
I came here when I was reading but the Slashdot beta. But I stayed because of MDC.
His honesty about himself and his struggles gave me the strength I needed to seek out help.
Prior to my encounters with his writings, I thought I was normal and the world was crazy. My mind was filled with all kinds of fear narratives and self aggrandizement.
The combination of these narratives drove a wedge between my wife, my children and myself.
Then I read MDC.
I came to realize that I was crazy and that I needed professional help.
I got help and now I am re-united with my wife and children.
This man, literally saved my family and probably my life.
I always wanted to thank him, but for some reason I never found the time or the words.
Sadly I find that this is the most appropriate tribute I can muster...
http://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/friendship [smbc-comics.com]
MDC I hope where ever you are they have highspeed internet so you can read the tributes. You changed lives, you saved lives. Wish I would have realized before it was too late that you needed savin too!
(Score: 3, Insightful) by RS3 on Wednesday March 27 2019, @07:35AM
Thank you for sharing all of that. It's very inspiring, and it's awesome to know how much MDC's openness has inspired and helped people. Most intelligent and caring people, like MDC, want to feel like they've done something to make the world a better place. You and your family are part of MDC's living legacy and have given him that, and by sharing your story (including MDC's) you might help others too.