Michael Hart, Prophet of Abundance

 

I've just found this appreciation of Michael Stern Hart, the founder of Project Gutenberg, who passed away on 6 September. It's well worth reading for anyone interested in ebooks, culture, and human progress: and a salutary antidote to the self-interested panic now engulfing the publishing industry.

I only corresponded with him once, about uploading a text I had edited, but found him friendly, businesslike and completely ego-free. He was too young to die.

Hat-tip: The Digital Reader