Philip Gale

Infobox Person
name = Philip Gale


image_size = 110px
caption = Philip Gale
birth_date = 1978
birth_place = Los Angeles, California
death_date = death date|1998|3|13|mf=y
death_place = Cambridge, Massachusetts
occupation = Computer programmer
spouse =
parents = David Gale,
Marie Gale, director CCHR
children =

Philip Chandler Gale (1978, Los Angeles, California – March 13, 1998, Cambridge, Massachusetts) was a pioneering internet software developer and computer prodigy, and avid musician, born and raised a Scientologist but rejected that upbringing and turned to the Church of the SubGenius. Gale earned roughly a million dollars worth of stock options for his innovative internet service provider (ISP) programs at EarthLink, a firm established and financed by members of the Church of Scientology.

Gale chose Friday, the thirteenth of March (L. Ron Hubbard's birthday) as the day he wanted to commit suicide, falling to his death from a classroom window on the fifteenth floor of a building on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus. Several years earlier, he had left Scientology after deciding it was not for him, becoming enamored of the postmodern parody religion Church of the SubGenius. [http://www.hollywoodinterrupted.com/archives/death_of_a_nethead.phtml HollywoodInterrupted.com] ; 'Death of a 'Nethead', Mark Ebner; originally published April 29, 1999 in the New Times Los Angeles]

Early life

Gale was raised from birth to age fourteen in Scientology, a fourth generation Scientologist [cite book
last = Gonnet
first = Roger
authorlink = Roger Gonnet
coauthors =
title =
publisher = Alban
date = 1998
location =
pages = Page 218-219.
url =
doi =
id = ISBN 2911751043] . He had a sister, Elizabeth Gale, and was the son of Scientologists David Gale, a software programmer who died from a heart attack in 1995, and Marie Gale, director of the Citizen's Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) in the Carolinas and chief national spokeswoman for CCHR. [http://www-tech.mit.edu/V118/N16/bdeath.16n.html Gale's Death Prompts Questions on Scientology] , Jennifer Chung, "The Tech (newspaper)", vol 118, no 16, p 1 April 3, 1998.] Gale was still coming to terms with his father's death at the time of his suicide. In 1986, his family moved to the church's international spiritual headquarters in Clearwater, Florida, but around the same time he was sent to attend a Scientology school in Oregon.

Gale was educated at the private Delphian School in Sheridan, Oregon, which was founded by L. Ron Hubbard's followers and dedicated to the sect's philosophies. Gale graduated from the Delphian School at age 14. Marie Gale brought her children into the public light in 1991, when a series of critical articles were published in the "St. Petersburg Times" which stated that Scientology children are "emotionally and physically neglected". Philip's mother stated: "Considering my parents and grandmother, my children are fourth-generation Scientologists. I attribute much of the success and happiness in my life to Scientology." Marie has attained the highest level of OT VIII in Scientology's Operating Thetan classifications. The Gale family is well known in Scientology circles for their commitment to the Church, and is noted for having made contributions of over $100,000 to the International Association of Scientologists (IAS). Gale was admitted to MIT at the age of fifteen. At MIT, he joined the Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity as a freshman in the fall of 1994, and he had just begun a music degree at the time of his suicide.

oftware programming

Gale took a break from MIT at the age of sixteen, accepting a position at EarthLink Network Inc. for a year, as director of research and development, with a $70,000 annual salary, after writing a key software program called Total Access while at MIT. [http://www.hollywoodinterrupted.com/archives/death_of_a_nethead.phtml HollywoodInterrupted.com] - 'Death of a 'Nethead', Mark Ebner, April 29, 1999, "New Times", Los Angeles, California.] The software allowed EarthLink's internet servers to connect far more customers to the Internet, giving the firm a competitive advantage and enabling its ascent to the top ranks among ISPs. Gale abandoned his Scientology beliefs while he was at EarthLink, and became involved with the Church of the SubGenius, which specializes in debunking cults and has developed its own cult following.

Before his seventeenth birthday, Gale earned stock options, worth perhaps a million dollars and a USD$70,000 salarycite news
last = Mallia
first = Joseph
coauthors =
title = Why did this brilliant MIT student jump to his death?
work = Boston Herald
pages =
language =
publisher =
date = May 21, 1998
url = http://web.archive.org/web/19991006180805/http://www.bostonherald.com/bostonherald/lonw/21suic1.htm
accessdate = ] , for writing software programs at the Los Angeles-based company, that was initially run according to Hubbard's 'Management by Statistics' principles. Largely because of Gale's breakthrough, EarthLink now has more than one million customers and a market worth of $2 billion.

Church of the SubGenius

At the time of his death Gale was no longer a Scientologist, and had not been one for years, having, according to Brian Ladner, his best friend at Earthlink, become interested in the Church of the SubGenius. Ladner claims to have introduced Gale to Subgenius while they worked together at Earthlink and reports that Gale hung a poster of J. R. "Bob" Dobbs, SubGenius fictional spiritual leader, on his office door.http://www.hollywoodinterrupted.com/archives/death_of_a_nethead.phtml HollywoodInterrupted.com; 'Death of a 'Nethead'; Mark Ebner; originally published April 29, 1999 in the New Times Los Angeles; accessed 2007-03-01] Ladner was also quoted as saying: "Leaving Scientology was a traumatic experience. He was brought up thinking it was the only way," in a telephone interview with "The Boston Herald". Gale's death was reported as "Scientologist-SubGenius Kills Self" by Rev. J.C. "Steve" Bevilacqua, Business Manager for the Church of the Subgenius. [http://www.subgenius.com/updates/5-99news/X0022_Scient-Sub-Suicide.html Scientologist-SubGenius Kills Self] , Rev. J.C. "Steve" Bevilacqua, Business Manager http://www.subgenius.com]

Death

After an investigation and an autopsy by Cambridge police, Gale's death at the age of nineteen, late on the evening of March 13, 1998, was ruled a suicide. [http://www-tech.mit.edu/Bulletins/green.html Bulletin: Male Sophomore Falls to Death] , "The Tech (newspaper)", last updated March 14, 1998.] For weeks, Gale had been asking classmates how to access the roof of MIT's tallest structure, the Green Building. On the blackboard of the MIT classroom in the Green Building, he wrote out Isaac Newton's equation for how an object accelerates as it falls, along with a sketch of a stick figure of someone tossing a chair. He signed the message, "Phil was here," picked up a chair, hurled it and then himself through a window on the fifteenth floorcite news
last = Landrigan
first = India F.
coauthors =
title = MIT Student Dead After Apparent Suicide
work = University Wire
pages =
language =
publisher =
date = March 16, 1998
url =
accessdate =
Philip C. Gale, a 19 year-old MIT undergraduate, apparently jumped out of a 15th floor window of an MIT science building shortly after 7:30 p.m. last Friday night. Gale was pronounced dead on arrival at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) at 8:05 p.m. According to Robert J. Sales, assistant director of the MIT news office, MIT police consider the incident an apparent suicide. "The case will stay open until the medical examiner signs the death certificate," Sales said.] of the Earth, Atmospheric & Planetary Sciences building, more commonly known as Building 54 or the Green Building.

"It was typical Phil. It's so like him to have planned a show," said an ex-girlfriend, Wellesley College student Christine Hrul, "He was so careful with things in his life, so methodical." Students reported hearing the sound of breaking glass, then a splintering sound, and finally a scream which sounded like "an echoing wail"cite news
last = Canellos
first = Peter S.
coauthors =
title = Campus Suicides Leave Many Students Reelings MIT, Harvard, UMASS Coping with Tragedies
work = Boston Globe
pages =
language =
publisher =
date = March 24, 1998
url =
accessdate = ] . The last disc played on Gale's CD player that night was Steel Pole Bathtub's "Scars from Falling Down".

In part, Gale's suicide note explained his motives: "Presumably I have jumped from a tall building. . . I am not crazy, albeit driven to suicide. It is not about any single event, or person. It is about stubborn sadness, and a detached view of the world. I see my life -- so much dreary, mundane, wasted time wishing upon unattainable goals -- and I feel little attachment to the future. But it is not so bad, relatively. I exaggerate. In the end, it is that I am unwilling (sick of living) to live in mediocrity. And this is what I have chosen to do about it. . . take care world, Philip." Gale closed his handwritten suicide note, found at his apartment, with a smiley face and the words "And stay happy!"

See also

*List of suicides

References

External links

* [http://www.hollywoodinterrupted.com/archives/death_of_a_nethead.phtml HollywoodInterrupted.com] - 'Death of a 'Nethead', Mark Ebner - originally published April 29, 1999 in the New Times Los Angeles
* [http://web.archive.org/web/19991006180805/http://www.bostonherald.com/bostonherald/lonw/21suic1.htm Why did this brilliant MIT student jump to his death?] , By Joseph Mallia, "Boston Herald" (May 21, 1998)
* [http://www-tech.mit.edu/V118/N16/bdeath.16n.html Gale's Death Prompts Questions on Scientology] , Jennifer Chung, "The Tech (newspaper)", vol 118, no 16, p 1 (April 3, 1998)