a quite prescient and imaginative short story that considered how the use of a virtual, entirely imaginary island nation combined with advanced computer networking might be used to suck tremendous wealth from, and wreak havoc on, the global banking system. Appearing in Datamation, a then-leading trade magazine focused on enterprise computing, "The King of Malaputa" (translation: bad whore) predates by at least 15 years Neal Stephenson's better-known novel, Cryptonomicon (1999) and its imaginary island nation, Kinakuta, which has been set up for use in anonymous, computer-based banking activities. Yurick's island "exists" only as bogus entries in various banking and geographic databases; when searched for in these databases, the island appears to exist in many dimensions, including map coordinates and convincing satellite photos, but it is entirely virtual – a figment of digital imagination. Elsewhere, criminals use satellite dishes to hack into the global banking system and divert money to the imaginary island and then, into their own pockets. The story reflects Yurick's longstanding focus on banks and bankers as the source and agents of much power and trouble in the highly capitalized modern world. Death Yurick died of complications from lung cancer on January 5, 2013. His death occurred 13 days before his 88th birthday. Bibliography (novels) The Warriors (1965) Fertig (1966) The Bag (1968) Someone Just Like You (1972) An Island Death (1976) Richard A (1981) Behold Metatron, the Recording Angel (1985) Confession (1999) References External links Filmography at Culturalia.net 1925 births 2013 deaths 20th-century American novelists Activists from New York (state) American anti-war activists American male novelists United States Army personnel of World War II American tax resisters Brooklyn College alumni Jewish American writers New York University alumni Writers from Manhattan American short story writers United States Army soldiers 20th-century American male writers Novelists from New York (state) American people of Russian-Jewish descent American people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent Deaths from lung cancer in New York (state) 21st-century American Jews