Rebecca Boone, Ph.D.
Founder
Women Online Worldwide (WOW)
URL: http://wowwomen.com
Nominated by: C. Junge, Donna deMedicis, Melynn Allison, Christine Peters and James Porteous

Excerpt from nomination: Beck was one of the pioneers of the online community. She cleared the land and built her cyberhouse while the rest of us were still marveling at a thing called word processing.

For four years she worked as a volunteer in various forums on America Online, including the gay and lesbian forum, the education forum where she taught online psychology courses, and Destination Florida. She learned every aspect of forum management and when eWorld--Apple's online community--opened, she was ready.

Beck submitted proposals for the three forums that became Transformations, Women Online Worldwide, and Qworld. Becky's "babies" have had an impact on the lives of thousands of people.

Women Online Worldwide was one of the first safe places for women on the Internet. It fulfilled Beck's dream of a place where women could meet, talk, argue, learn, give and receive support, laugh, and sometimes, cry. Transformations brought self-help groups online, free for the taking, to anyone in need. Each are communities created from chatrooms and ezines and message boards, and they have become an integral part of the lives of many men and women.

Beck accomplished so much in such a short time. But to understand the end we must first cast a glance back at the beginning. Becky's life defined the word dichotomy. Here was a gay woman in the nineties who proudly admitted to having a picture of Alabama football coach Bear Bryant in her living room. With a doctorate in psychology, she seemed equally proud of the fact that she played in the Alabama marching band the first year that Bryant was hired. Roll, Tide. That's for you, Beck.

Becky was born in Alabama in the thirties. The daughter of a former professional ballplayer, her roots were in Southern small towns. While few of us met Becky in person, nor visited her hometown, I have a feeling that there was not a menorah in the neighbor's windows. She managed to maintain the region's basic good manners and hospitality, while moving effortlessly and gracefully among people and customs that were different from her roots.

Beck also celebrated her Southernness in a time when it was not particularly cool to do so. She understood the steel magnolia, and reveled in the Southern family, with the crazy rituals involving male relatives named Bubba, and the necessity of wearing white shoes after Easter.

One of the most refreshing things about Beck was that she seemed to have no fear of becoming filthy rich. I laugh to think of Beck as rich. She would have had a blast, and she would have joyfully taken us with her. As her "babies" grew, and Proctor and Gamble and ABC wanted to become part of our communities, Beck's dream was profit sharing for all.

Today people still stutter when they try to define Beck. She was simply too big for words. She thought big. She was confusing to people who thought small. Those who liked to play it safe found her annoying. In talking to people who knew Becky, they consistently describe her as indescribable. She was a combination carnival barker and pied piper. She was a shepherd to a group of men and women who would have followed her to hell and back. But Beck's hell would be fully air-conditioned.

The Internet was her world because it was like her: vast, limitless and fascinating. While she built her Internet kingdom, she broke every rule of corporate management. She wasn't afraid to delegate. She wasn't afraid to let other people know more than she did. She was not afraid to be unnecessary.

Beck loved a good fight. She loved stirring things up. She was instrumental in opening up the Internet to the gay community. She knew she was a lesbian before she was even old enough to know there was a word for it.

However, Becky was also adamant that gay people not "recruit" anyone, especially teenagers. She said being a teen was hard enough without someone labeling them as forever gay. She also loved children, and she was very concerned about the problems faced by teenage women.

Listening to them and being there for them were encouraged, but no recruiting was allowed. Straight people were allowed to be straight. She had no use for the theory that to be a true feminist you would have to be a lesbian. She thought that was absolute hogwash. She was not a heterophobe, if there is such a word.

No, Beck called 'em as she saw 'em. While she thought big--huge, really--she also thought very small. She was perfectly willing to save the sisterhood, one woman at a time. One of her final efforts was the "Little Women" chats, where little girls (some as young as eight years old) can come into a safe, secure chatroom surrounded by Beck's soldiers who are ever vigilant against evil invaders, and can simply be little girls.

Becky would never be finished. As soon as she climbed one mountain she could rest, have a margarita, and then climb another. She seemed to have no use for sleep. When she would call her forum coordinator at three in the morning, she often asked "Were you asleep?" Becky was that big pink Energizer bunny. She just kept going and going and going.

Because the majority of her family were Internet people, we knew her mainly from her message board posts, her emails or the occasional phone call. Beck took whatever persona or form you needed her to take. She had so many facets that you could pick and choose, taking from her what you needed. Only the Internet could have created a goddess like Becky, because she was created in all of our images.

Editors Note: Rebecca Boone died in October 1997.