Born: 1939 (Washington, D.C.)
Died: 2003
Biography:
Judith [Jude] Milhon, best known by her pseudonym St. Jude, was a remarkable individual who made significant contributions as a self-taught programmer, civil rights advocate, writer, editor, advocate for women in computing, hacker, and author. She was born on March 12, 1939, in Washington, D.C., and raised in Indiana to a military family of the Marine Corps.
Attracted to the burgeoning countercultural movement, Milhon moved to Yellow Springs, Ohio, near Antioch College, where she established a communal household with her husband, Robert Behling, and their young daughter, Tresca Behling. In 1968, she ventured to San Francisco with her partner, Efrem Lipkin, and divorced her husband in 1970. Throughout her life, Milhon played a pivotal role in pushing the boundaries of societal norms and advocating for civil rights.
Milhon’s interest in programming led her to teach herself the craft in 1967. She embarked on her professional journey with a job at the Horn and Hardart vending machine company in New York. As the counterculture movement gained momentum, Milhon relocated to California and started working at the Berkeley Computer Company, where she contributed to the implementation of the communications controller of the BCC timesharing system.
In 1971, Milhon joined forces with local activists and technologists at Project One. She became particularly drawn to the Resource One project, aiming to create the Bay Area’s first public computerized bulletin board system. Three years later, she was part of a subset of the Resource One group that broke away to establish Community Memory in Berkeley. Additionally, Milhon made significant contributions to BSD, a Unix-based operating system developed by UC Berkeley’s Computer Systems Research Group.
Not only was Milhon a skilled programmer, but she was also an influential figure in the world of publishing. She served as a senior editor at the groundbreaking magazine Mondo 2000 and was a regular contributor to Boing Boing. Milhon’s passion for writing extended to authoring several books, including How to Mutate & Take Over the World: an Exploded Post-Novel (1997), co-written with R. U. Sirius, and Cyberpunk Handbook: The Real Cyberpunk Fakebook (1995), co-written with R. U. Sirius and Bart Nagel. She also released an internet version of her ebook, Hacking the Wetware: The NerdGirl’s Pillow Book (1994).
Milhon’s impact extended beyond programming and writing. She was actively involved in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and played a role in organizing the historic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. Her dedication to protest and social change led to her imprisonment for trespassing in Montgomery.
Jude Milhon passed away on July 19, 2003, after battling cancer. She left behind a lasting legacy as a visionary and advocate for women in computing, civil rights, and social justice. Her pioneering work in programming, writing, and activism continues to inspire and influence many to this day.