Richard Brodie (programmer) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Richard Brodie |
|
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Quiet Lion |
| Residence | Kirkland, Washington, U.S. |
| Born | November 10, 1959 (age 65) Newton, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| World Series of Poker | |
| Bracelet(s) | None |
| Money finish(es) | 8 |
| Highest ITM Main Event finish |
None |
| World Poker Tour | |
| Title(s) | None |
| Final table(s) | None |
| Money finish(es) | 6 |
Richard Reeves Brodie (born November 10, 1959) is an American computer expert and author. He is famous for writing the very first version of Microsoft Word. After working at Microsoft, he became a speaker who helps people feel more motivated. He has also written two books.
Contents
About Richard Brodie
His Early Life
Richard Brodie was born in Newton, Massachusetts. He was the older son of Mary Ann Brodie and Richard Brodie, who was a child psychologist. He went to Newton South High School. In 1977, he started studying at Harvard College. He focused on applied mathematics and computer science.
After his second year at Harvard, he left to work for Xerox Corporation. He joined their Advanced Systems Division in Palo Alto, CA. There, he met Charles Simonyi and helped create a word processor called Bravo X. This program was for a computer called Alto. Simonyi became a guide for Brodie at Xerox. When Simonyi moved to Microsoft in 1981, Brodie went with him.
Working at Microsoft
In 1981, Simonyi hired Brodie as Microsoft's 77th employee. He was also a founding member of the Microsoft Application Division.
Richard Brodie became well-known at Microsoft for creating the first version of Microsoft Word. He did this in less than seven months! Besides Word, he also wrote Microsoft's first C programming language tool. He also created the original version of Microsoft Notepad. And he made Word for the IBM PC Jr. computer.
Brodie's success as a programmer caught the attention of Bill Gates. In 1983, Gates made Brodie his technical assistant. Brodie's main achievement in this role was managing the Cashmere project. This project later became Word for Windows.
During the design of Cashmere, Brodie came up with some clever ideas. He invented the Combo box, which is a mix of a text box and a drop-down menu. You see these everywhere today! He also thought of the Ribbon. This is a strip of buttons at the top of the screen. It helps you change how your text looks. And he created the wavy red line that automatically checks for spelling errors.
Brodie left Microsoft in 1986. But he came back in 1991 as the Chief Software Designer. He was also the Lead Developer for the Omega project. This project was released as Microsoft Access in 1992. He left Microsoft again in 1994.
After Microsoft
Between his times at Microsoft, Brodie went on a journey to improve himself. He took many classes and went to special retreats. He wanted to understand why money and success did not make him happy. He wrote about his experiences in his first book. It was called Getting Past OK: The Self-Help Book for People Who Don’t Need Help. It was first published in 1993. This book became very popular in his region.
He then wrote another book called Virus of the Mind (1995). This book looked at a new field called memetics. Memetics studies how ideas spread from person to person. Brodie wrote about it in a practical way. Both of his books are now published in many languages around the world.
Brodie talked about his books on The Oprah Winfrey Show and Phil Donahue.
A Poker Player
Besides being a programmer and author, Brodie also loves sports and games. In 2003, he started playing professional poker. He has won money in five World Series of Poker events. He also won money in six World Poker Tours. He played as a professional for Full Tilt Poker. His screen name was Quiet Lion.
He appeared on NBC's game show Identity. He also played himself in the movie The Grand.
In 2023, Brodie won the 32nd annual World Recreational Gambling Poker Tournament (WRGPT). He beat 440 other players after 221 days of playing. He did not win any money, but he earned a special place in poker history.
Brodie lives in Kirkland, Washington today.
His Books
