Ted Nelson, born in 1937 to Hollywood parents but raised by intellectual grandparents, coined the term "hypertext" in 1965 and spent decades developing Xanadu, a visionary hypertext system featuring bidirectional links, transclusion (living references to original content), version control, micropayments, and immutable history. Frustrated by the "computer priesthood" gatekeeping technology, he published "Computer Lib/Dream Machines" (1974) to democratize computing knowledge. While the simpler World Wide Web won mainstream adoption in the 1990s, Nelson's unrealized concepts—like permanent attribution, built-in fact-checking through source tracing, and automatic creator compensation—could have prevented many modern problems including content piracy, disinformation, and AI copyright infringement. At 89, Nelson continues working on Xanadu, his life's project that profoundly influenced computing despite receiving little recognition.