Obituary of Steve Estil Gano

Obituary Steve Estil Gano, 64, passed away on February 21, 2019, at his home in Pacific Grove, California. Steve was born in Indianapolis, Indiana on June 20, 1954. He grew up on the westside of Indianapolis, attending public schools and graduating from Northwest High School in 1972. Steve graduated from Indiana University in 1976 with a B.A. degree in cognitive psychology. He received a B.S. degree in computer science from Purdue University , and an M.S. in media technology from MIT's Architecture Machine Group (later the Media Lab) where he helped create some of the seminal applications of media technology . He then embarked on a career developing advanced interactive media applications on the research staffs of Atari Research, Hewlett-Packard, and Apple Computer in California. He was a consultant to industry leaders including Interval Research, Macromedia, and Microsoft. In 1999, Steve became Director of Technology for Education at The American Museum of Natural History in New York City. In recent years, he established a digital media firm called Object Cult. As principal of the firm, he joined the leadership teams for two National Science Foundation funded innovative technology projects at the School for the Future of Innovation for Society at Arizona State University. He aimed to create simple tools that enable people to appropriate and remix digital content as a way to reflect on their responses to science, technology, societyand the future. This work landed him in big cities on both coasts, and he welcomed visits from family, introducing them to the sights and sounds, food and culture of these cities. While in New York he met his wife Gretchen. With a home base in the city, they thought, worked and played together for 16 years in Connecticut, western Massachusetts, and Berkley, California. Steve had an abiding interest in food: how it grown, sustainably; distributed, locally; prepared, from scratch; shared, he loved to prepare meals for friends, often from recipes with a good story. He traveld the country and world, for work and pleasure, bringing back unique, sometimes quirky gifts. He returned frequently to Indiana, via road trips if time permitted, nurturing the bonds of family and roots, visiting old haunts in Indianapolis, Bloomington, Nashville. Steve was preceded in death by his parents, William and Barbara (Hankey) Gano, sister Vicki. He is survived by sisters Meg and Debby, nephews Tim, Jake, Matt, John and great-nephew Jackson. Steve's life will be celebrated by a gathering of family and friends in Big Sur, California this spring. Steve was true to himself, kind and thoughtful with his family, his friends, his colleagues, and the planet we all share. The family suggest that memorial contributions be made to: 350.org, https://350.org/ indisible, https://indivisible.org/how-to-givegive; Doctors without Borders, https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/. To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Steve Estil Gano, please visit our floral store.