American software developer who wrote the first word processing program, Electric Pencil, heralded by many as not only the first, but one of the best word processing programs. Electric Pencil had many of the functions found in later word processors, including the first "on-the-fly" spell checkers. Electric Pencil's chief advantages were simplicity, compact code (as compared to the bloated programs now in use), and speed. It formed the basis for all subsequent word processing software.