There's no point in me regurgitating Ted Nelson's biographical data. There are numerous sources for you to consult on that. If you're REALLY interested in the details, read POSSIPLEX. If you'd like a shorter biographical sketch, try the section A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE XANADU CAPER in Literary Machines,
I can, instead, offer a very brief pen portrait of the man based on my limited interaction with him.
I sent Ted a video demo of the earliest version of Alph, back in the autumn of 2016. He got back to me about six months later with enthusiasm and encouragement, and proposed that we work together on a Xanadu-branded Web-based "flying text editor" with proper visual cut-and-paste editing. It was to be called Hyperama.
It was Ted's idea to call text fragments "noodles", and to be able to visibly cut, fuse, and duplicate pieces of text in the way that you currently can in the Docuplextron. Those features of the software are Ted's ideas.
Ted had a lot of ideas. Let me write that out again in caps, because it needs to be emphasized properly: Ted had a LOT OF IDEAS. All the time. About once a week I'd get a specification for a bunch of features/interaction mechanics, and often the newly-requested features would clobber some of the previously-requested features. All of these, I must add, were good ideas. And I think if you go back and look at Ted's ouvre, you'll see that a fundamental characteristic of his motivations to develop hypertext systems is his keen awareness that there are always several ways to say or do something – several EQUALLY GOOD ways to say or do something. And so Ted's descriptions of hypertext systems often describe systems with variability, malleability, and some facility to make the system work like you, rather than having to make yourself work like the system.
That's way hard to implement.
Ted's a great orator and storyteller – a real raconteur. In his public speaking, he's fiery and passionate. He's right about the important stuff, he HAS BEEN right about it for a LONG TIME, and he's not shy about letting you know it. I find his passion, his commitment, and his uncompromising nature inspiring.
I want to contrast this public-facing side of Ted with my own personal impression of him which is actually very warm and sweet. He can be soft-spoken in conversation, and he is a very active listener. He looks you right in the eye, and if you say something that particularly piques his interest, he writes it down.
Ted and I only worked together on Hyperama for ...three months? Something like that? Not a long time. And I think that the manner in which we parted ways says a lot about the quality of his character.
Ted felt that he was derailing my project, and so he suggested that we stop work on Hyperama – for the time being. This was such a gracious gesture on his part. I truly appreciated it.
I love the guy. I barely know him, but his work and those facets of his character that I have had the opportunity to experience remain an inspiration to me, and so the Alph Hypertext System Project is dedicated to him.