Tom West | |
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 West at home in Westport MA, 2009 | |
| Born | Joseph Thomas West (1939-11-22)November 22, 1939 New York City,New York, U.S. |
| Died | May 19, 2011(2011-05-19) (aged 71) |
| Alma mater | Amherst College, B.A. 1962 |
| Children | 2 |
Joseph Thomas West III (November 22, 1939 – May 19, 2011)[1] was an American technologist. West is notable for being the key figure in thePulitzer Prize winningnon-fiction bookThe Soul of a New Machine.[2]
West began his career in computer design atRCA, after seven years at theSmithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, a job he'd gotten right out of college.[3] He started working forData General in 1974.[3] He became the head of Data General'sEclipse group and then became the lead on the Eagle project, building a machine officially named theEclipse MV/8000.[3] After the publication ofSoul of a New Machine, West was sent to Japan by Data General where he helped designDG-1, the first full-screen laptop.[3] His last project in 1996, a thin Web server, was intended to be an internet-ready machine.[4] West retired as Chief Technologist in 1998.[5]
West was married to Elizabeth (Cohon) West in 1965; they divorced in 1994.[6] The couple had two daughters, Katherine West and librarianJessamyn West.[7] West married Cindy Woodward (his former assistant at Data General) in 2001; the couple divorced in 2011. West died at the age of 71 in hisWestport, Massachusetts home of an apparent heart attack.[6] His nephew,Christopher Schwarz, is a former editor ofPopular Woodworking magazine, author ofThe Anarchist's Toolchest, and co-founder ofLost Art Press; West's death prompted Schwarz to "leave the magazine and do my own thing".[8]
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