Writer, musician, polymath

May 12, 2008 7:58 AM

Stan Kelly-Bootle began his career as a member of the earliest wave of computer programmers, who wrote prolifically about a wide range of computing issues. Back in his home town though, he's probably best known for his contributions to a lexicon of local slang, Lern Yerself Scouse, and for his canonical and not-so-canonical contributions to the British folk repertoire.

Stan's website

posted by PeterMcDermott (9 comments total)

I only know him from this quotation:

Should array indices start at 0 or 1? My compromise of 0.5 was rejected without, I thought, proper consideration. - Stan Kelly-Bootle
posted by martinrebas at 8:03 AM on May 12, 2008

My friends and I passed around The Devil's DP Dictionary in our high school days. Years later I mostly recall the jokes at the expense of the Irish, which got tiresome and didn't seem in the spirit of the rest of the book.
posted by ardgedee at 8:09 AM on May 12, 2008

TBH, I was in the process of researching a prospective FPP on Dubliner's vocalist. Luke Kelly, when I stumbled upon all this stuff about Stan. In this version of Wish I was back in Liverpool, Luke compares him to Lennon and McCartney and suggests they could combine to form a 'blessed trinity'.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 8:23 AM on May 12, 2008

Also, it's disappointing that nobody ever seems to include the pimpish last verse of WIWBIL:

Me judy's down in London, she's werkin' dur fer me;
But her lousy beat on Jermyn Street can't keep the kids and me;
I'm told her time and time again, "Now don't you be a fool,
"You'ld have more LUCK with half the FUSS, in dear ould Liverpool Town."
posted by PeterMcDermott at 8:31 AM on May 12, 2008

Interesting stuff Peter. I was half-thinking of an FPP on Luke too, as he's a hero of mine, but you do him justice. I'd always liked WIWBIL but had never heard of Stan before. Thanks for the post.
posted by Abiezer at 8:43 AM on May 12, 2008

"Stan Kelly-Bootle was one of the earliest waves"

Er, he's not dead yet. And is still as funny as ever.
posted by mdoar at 11:12 AM on May 12, 2008

Yeah, and he might have been a member of a wave, but he wasn't a wave all by himself. Wording is dumb. I'll email a mod and see if I can't have one of them fix it.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 11:40 AM on May 12, 2008

[changed the wording here slightly]
posted by jessamyn at 11:52 AM on May 12, 2008

My copy of The Devil's DP Dictionary is enshrined in a special place on my bookshelf. I had to rescue it from my eldest son a few years ago, he would have had it in shreds he loved it so much...
posted by lhauser at 9:58 PM on May 12, 2008