Stephen Glazier (1947–1992)

From his publisher's biography: Stephen Glazier's novel, The Lost Provinces, was published in 1981 to excellent reviews, and a year later was optioned for a movie. He also was making a study of the word classification systems used by Melvil Dewey (of the Dewey catalog system), the Library of Congress, and Peter Mark Roget, back to the Middle Ages. The new system he developed combined a traditional approach to the division of knowledge with a contemporary hierarchical structure influenced by the computer age. By 1985 the basic format and nucleus of what was to become the Word Menu had been worked out, and Glazier set out to create the large book of words he envisioned. In the fall of 1991, after putting the finishing touches on the 3000-page manuscript, Glazier was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. Early in 1992, his condition suddenly worsened and he died at age 44.