From Wikipedia to Usenet, rumor has it that Gary Kildall died in a biker brawl at the Franklin Bar & Grill in Monterey, California when he was there for a visit while living in Austin. Just like the other rumors of Gary’s life, there seems to be little truth to this. As I write this, it is July 11, 2023, exactly 29 years since Gary’s death. I recently had lunch with my high school computer teacher and we got onto the topic of Gary Kildall. He (my former teacher) asked me if I heard how Gary Kildall died. Of course, he took that rumor as fact.
I don’t have a lot of time to write an elaborate article debunking the claims and going into some of the crazy theories about the last years of Gary’s life. I just want to say that even some of Gary’s closest friends would perpetuate this myth. In a speech that can be found on YouTube, Stewart Cheifet, who hosted the Computer Chronicles along with Gary and who should be one of his closest associates, also said this is what happened to him.
If he had received a fatal blow to the head that would be enough to kill him, there certainly would have been an inquest and witnesses. That didn’t happen and Gary was cremated and, purportedly, no autopsy was performed. That is hardly what would happen in a suspicious death of an average person, much less a person with the stature and resources of Gary Kildall.
In the book, “They Made America: From the Steam Engine to the Search Engine: Two Centuries of Innovators” by Harold Evans, it gives a much simpler explanation. It mentions how Gary was diagnosed with a heart arrhythmia. This wasn’t exactly speculative as it caused Gary to forfeit his pilot’s license. This had to be debilitating to someone who took refuge and solace in flying his private plane.
In the days leading up to him untimely death, he supposedly stumbled and hit his head at the Franklin Street Bar & Grill. He was found unconscious next to an arcade game. He sought medical treatment several times in the days following but the doctors were unable to find the problem. He died of a cerebral hemorrhage. It was more likely that he passed out due to this condition rather than this condition being caused by a blow to the head.
Whatever the reason, we can be assured that, while Gary did die that day, he lives on forever because of the industry he defined and created.