Molly Holzschlag has died

https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/090523_molly_holzschlag/tucsons-molly-holzschlag-known-as-the-fairy-godmother-web-dead-60/

by tarellel • 3 years ago

344 93 3 years ago

tucsonsentinel.com

hellweaver666• 3 years ago

This is super sad. I learnt HTML and CSS from following tutorials by Molly, even met her a couple of times at conferences. I really can't understate how much this woman shaped the web as we know it today. Rest well Molly!

fergie• 3 years ago

I met her a few times at Opera in Oslo, and she was truly somebody who embodied the spirit of the utopian promise of the web. A smart and charming woman.

Its weird- she suddenly popped into my head the other day having not thought about her for years, and I was wondering how she was doing.

jacquesm• 3 years ago

Oh that sucks. She's one of the few authors whose books about the web actually helped me build stuff. 60 only, way too young.

souvic• 3 years ago

Her Twitter bio read, "It is the true teacher who leaves the class knowing they have learned the most."

Such a mesmerising human being!

simulo3• 3 years ago

That is sad. She was with the web from its early days (her first book on the subject is from 1996), taught a lot of people, and bridged several communities: design, web standards, and accessability

Brajeshwar• 3 years ago

If you were actively building for the Web in late 1990s and early 2000s, you would have definitely stumbled on Molly’s work in one way or the other.

The web will miss Molly E. Holzschlag.

Now, I could not find her on LinkedIn; she must have deleted her profile. She was reaching out to people when her illness progressed (I think it was LinkedIn). I remember feeling sad watching her videos, talking about how the treatment was tiring her.

It was always an excitement in the early days of the web when you are in a discussion forum and Molly was around too, answering to the list question. Looking up old emails, she owned https://www.molly.com but this seems to be something else now.

henvic• 3 years ago

It's really sad. It looks like financial hardship hit hard and she decided to sell it to afford medication.

https://web.archive.org/web/20151211202252/http://www.molly....

https://web.archive.org/web/20151204202343/http://www.molly....

https://web.archive.org/web/20150711215305/http://www.molly....

https://web.archive.org/web/20160202163909/http://www.molly....

wink• 3 years ago

Sad to hear this. As I wandered away from frontend work more and more over the years that's a name I haven't heard in a while, but in the late 90s/early 00s you definitely stumbled over her work here and there if you were around in those circles. When frontend development encompassed mostly HTML and CS (no JS).

terminous• 3 years ago

I think in this case, it would be OK to add [mollydotcom] to the title. That's how I knew her, not by her last name.

andirk• 3 years ago

Anyone who was an advocate of web Accessibility from the early days is someone who knew that we are all God's (or whoever's) children. Rest in peace, Molly.

thraxil• 3 years ago

I worked with Molly for years at the Web Standards Project. We all owe her more than most people realize when it comes to being able to use and build on the modern web. There aren't many single individuals out there who had a larger impact than her. She was also just a lovely and inspiring human and those of us who were fortunate enough to spend time with her are better for it.

As sad as this is, it also isn't much of a surprise if you've been paying any attention. She's been very sick for a long time and publicly struggling with enormous medical expenses (there have been various crowdfunding efforts over the years and she had to sell her `molly.com` domain to pay for treatment).

gcanyon4• 3 years ago

She's been very sick for a long time and publicly struggling with enormous medical expenses (there have been various crowdfunding efforts over the years and she had to sell her `molly.com` domain to pay for treatment).

My wife and I were both born in the U.S. and have lived here most of our lives; we love this place. The above is why we have zero intention to retire here.

samstave2• 3 years ago

Norway?

Where retire?

pnutjam• 3 years ago

She died at 60, so no eligibility for Medicare or Social Security. That's a nightmare scenario in the good old US of A. RIP

weinzierl12• 3 years ago

I understand you, but health care is expensive everywhere. The difference between the US and many other countries is in the distribution of this cost.

So, for example, if a young person from the US or elsewhere comes to Germany to study they will get health care basically for free.

I think (and I might be wrong) if you move to Germany as retiree the public health care system would not be open to you. You could choose a private insurance but, very much like in the US, the premiums depend on age and existing preconditions. I cannot tell if this would be cheaper than in the US, but I doubt that it could be much cheaper. Also, I think it would be similar in most other EU countries.

Of course you could move to a country with significantly lower living standards to save on medical cost, but then you would increase your likelihood of medical issues and not really gain any real advantage.

kevmo3• 3 years ago

F'ing incredible that the USA doesn't have universal healthcare yet. We lose so much efficiency, productivity, and creativity because of it. One of the primary reasons our average living standards keep going down.

pohl• 3 years ago

Got to fight tooth and nail to protect tax cuts for bajillionaires, yo. Who knows, any one of us might be one someday.

stcroixx4• 3 years ago

Lots of people don't want universal health care for reasons that are not incredible. I've had employer provided insurance I'm happy with ever since I left my student insurance plan over 25 years ago and have few complaints about it. I'd prefer not to risk transitioning to a universal system that might provide worse care than what I've always had. Kaiser in CA for example is the worst insurance I've had - would not want to return to anything like that where there is a single network of providers. That was my mistake though - I didn't have to choose Kaiser, I had other options.

adamredwoods• 3 years ago

An easier first step would be to force all healthcare and hospitals to be non-profit, and never enter the stock market. Shareholders want profit, and an easy way to profit on healthcare is to deny benefits.

geerlingguy• 3 years ago

"Dr. Glaucomflecken" [1] is doing a satirical daily video on the US a healthcare system this month, and the short videos cut right to the heart of the insane practices that reduce patient welfare, from insurance policies to hospital administrators.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/@DGlaucomflecken

kubafu• 3 years ago

Thank you Molly for all you did, a lot of us will keep building on that.

JimDabell• 3 years ago

This is sad. She was omnipresent in the web development community, especially during pivotal moments for interoperability. Many of the things we take for granted these days we owe to her, the Web Standards Project, and people like her.

oldmillalmond• 3 years ago

Could we get a black bar?

simulo3• 3 years ago

that would be fitting, I thought the same.

isodev• 3 years ago

This is so heartbreaking. How does one request the black bar? Just send them an email from the contact link?

jeremiahlee2• 3 years ago

Absolutely worthy!

jdelsman• 3 years ago

Molly was incredibly kind to me. I met her a few times at conferences, and she always seemed to be bright, quirky and impossibly energetic. I am sorry to see this happen to such a lovely person. I hope she rests in power!

jeremiahlee2• 3 years ago

I remember the first time I met her at a Web dev conference. She chatted with me for a half hour, telling stories of browser rivalries and HTML5’s renegade group that saved us all from XHTML. We ran into each other several times over the years. She always was kind, encouraging, and genuinely interested in what I had to say. She gave us all so much. Her suffering over the last decade was a cruel fate.

toomuchtodo2• 3 years ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molly_Holzschlag

https://webwithmolly.com/

jzb2• 3 years ago

I used to follow Molly's blog and writing and really enjoyed her voice and learned a lot from her. I'm embarrassed to say that it's been a long time since I thought about her, and it's really heartbreaking she passed away so young and after so much struggle.

Our systems suck. Nobody should have to fight so hard to get the treatment they need. It's doubly sad when it's someone who has made significant contributions to the world and then is essentially forgotten. But that shouldn't happen to anybody.

meigwilym• 3 years ago

One of the giants of the early Web 2.0 and standards movement. Like many others I learnt a lot from her writings on the practicalities and ideas of modern, accessible websites.

May she rest in peace.

jethronethro• 3 years ago

Damn! So sad to hear this. She was a force of nature.

eddielement• 3 years ago

I sent Molly an email when I was a kid with a few questions about one of her HTML books. To my surprise, she sent over signed copies of a few of her books and wrote about me on her blog, something about inspiring the next generation.

Well, 20 years later and actively coding for a living, count me as having been inspired - Thank you Molly!!

out-of-ideas• 3 years ago

it always baffles me why websites like this use such high cloudflare "security" features; ironic that somebody who was an advocate for the Open Web (according to wikipedia) to have a death-announcement be on a not-open page. Thanks tusconsentinel, your site is now a joke to me ! (and no i shall not turn off JShelter)

mdenny453• 3 years ago

In the 80s when I lived in Tucson, Molly and I would perform our songs together at the Drinking Gourd on 4th. I am beyond sad to hear this news. Long live Molly! Send us love from Paradise.

Mark Denny

Molly Holzschlag has died

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