Philip Chandler Gale (November 15, 1978 – March 13, 1998) was an American pioneering Internet software developer, computer prodigy, and sophomore student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He was notable for having written Total Access while at MIT, and was hired by EarthLink at the age of 16 to work on its development. In 2008, the company had more than one million users. By the age of 17, Gale had earned roughly a million dollars' worth of stock options at EarthLink for his innovative ISP programs. In 1995, Gale's father died from a heart attack, and friends said Gale struggled to come to terms with the loss. He returned to MIT in 1996 and became a music major. Early life and education Philip Chandler Gale was the eldest child of Marie and David Gale. He had a younger sister Elizabeth. His parents and many of his immediate family were deeply committed to the Church of Scientology. His mother Marie had been in the church from the age of 12, and her parents and grandparents were also believers. Philip's father was a software engineer, and in 1981 had founded RealWorld, a supplier of accounting software. His parents met through the church in Los Angeles, where Marie was on staff and David was a fanatic. The family moved from Los Angeles to New Hampshire when Philip was young, and he showed "an early aptitude for numbers and machines". Seeing his abilities, Marie taught him at home with another mother, and said that before the age of five, he was reading and doing math at the second and third-grade level. Later they lived in Clearwater, Florida; Charlotte, North Carolina; Utah; and Oregon. From the age of 8, Gale lived and studied at The Delphian School in Sheridan, Oregon, a private boarding school based on L. Ron Hubbard's study technology. Philip's parents personally knew the founders of the school. He graduated from there at age 14. At that time, his family had moved to Utah. Gale got a job in programming at the marketing firm where his father worked, but he had contentious relations with fellow workers, as he could outperform many older programmers and had a tendency to treat people who were not as intelligent as he with contempt. College and EarthLink Gale was admitted to MIT at the age of 15 in 1993. He initially pursued studies in physics and