# Interesting bio of the life & death of Phil Katz the creator of "zip" compression **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 3, 2005, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-bio-of-the-life-death-of-phil-katz-the-creator-of-zip-compression/319881 "2005-09-03T09:07:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2005, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-bio-of-the-life-death-of-phil-katz-the-creator-of-zip-compression/319881/1 "2005-09-03T09:07:30Z")
[The short, tormented life of computer genius Phil Katz](http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:vYJZ1yJu1wIJ:www.jsonline.com/news/State/may00/katz21052000a.asp+phil+katz+zip+alcoholic&hl=en) ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2005, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-bio-of-the-life-death-of-phil-katz-the-creator-of-zip-compression/319881/2 "2005-09-03T10:00:04Z")
That was a good read. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2005, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-bio-of-the-life-death-of-phil-katz-the-creator-of-zip-compression/319881/3 "2005-09-03T12:59:15Z")
Talk about your tortured geniuses! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2005, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-bio-of-the-life-death-of-phil-katz-the-creator-of-zip-compression/319881/4 "2005-09-03T14:37:43Z")
> [@](#): > > But the riches his genius produced were no balm for what had become a hellish life of paranoia, booze and strip clubs. I bet some guys are thinking, hey, two out of three ain’t bad! ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2005, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-bio-of-the-life-death-of-phil-katz-the-creator-of-zip-compression/319881/5 "2005-09-03T14:51:01Z")
That was a good read. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2005, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-bio-of-the-life-death-of-phil-katz-the-creator-of-zip-compression/319881/6 "2005-09-03T15:17:21Z")
Important Note: There are a group of people who hated PK with a great passion. They have gone to great lengths to smear him on the Internet over the years. This is merely one of the usual smear articles that has been generated. The real truth, while not great, is not nearly as bad as depicted. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2005, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-bio-of-the-life-death-of-phil-katz-the-creator-of-zip-compression/319881/7 "2005-09-03T16:11:45Z")
I still prefer PKzip over Winzip! I only use Winzip if my file names are longer than 8 letters. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2005, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-bio-of-the-life-death-of-phil-katz-the-creator-of-zip-compression/319881/8 "2005-09-03T23:57:02Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > The real truth, while not great, is not nearly as bad as depicted. I’m not sure anything in there is particularly bad. Unless you’re implying that he wasn’t an alcoholic who drank himself to death. Seemed reasonaby honest to me, from an objective and uninformed point of view. It’s not like they made him out to be a tyrant or cruel to others in any way shape or form. I’ll accept that the story may have inaccurcies or exaggerations, but you may want to offer some cites or at least point out whats inaccurate before calling this a “smear article”. ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-bio-of-the-life-death-of-phil-katz-the-creator-of-zip-compression/319881/9 "2005-09-04T02:20:07Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > The real truth, while not great, is not nearly as bad as depicted. Well, he had the whips, so it couldn’t have been _that_ bad. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interesting-bio-of-the-life-death-of-phil-katz-the-creator-of-zip-compression/319881/10 "2005-09-04T02:41:28Z")
A very interesting read. I had some very limited contact with Mr. Katz a very long time ago, but never knew anything about his personal life, of course. **ftg** , if you think the article is inaccurate, what version of the story do you think is more accurate?