The Hometown of Author William Gibson, Father of Cyber Punk (Conway, SC)

Seeking Myrtle Beach's Grand Strange is a ten-part series by author Jim MacKenzie where he visits and writes about strange attractions in the Myrtle Beach area. In this installment, MacKenzie visits the hometown of author William Gibson, Father of Cyber Punk.

William Gibson, the father of Cyber Punk, known for his novels Neuromancer (1982) and The Peripheral (Amazon streaming), was born in 1948 in Conway, South Carolina.

Many readers have named Gibson a prophet of the cyber world, since the scenarios in his novels seem to eventually come true. If you've ever read a story or watched a movie or program about cyber culture, being subsumed by technology, or becoming one with machines, chances are its creators were influenced by William Gibson. And they'd be happy to admit it.

Gibson now spends most of his time in Canada. But he did make a quick trip back to his hometown of Conway to visit Coastal Carolina University, home of the Chanticleers.



During the university's 2008 commencement, the father of cyberpunk was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters.



The campus itself doesn't appear, on the surface, very cyber punk, but you will see the color teal everywhere and signs declaring that you've entered "Teal Nation."



The university is known for its high degrees in marine science and coastal systems.



The school's mascot comes from The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, more specifically "The Nun's Priest Tale."

Go Chanticleers!

What To Know Before You Go

GPS Coordinates: (33.79546498424848, -79.00788853172453)
Location: Coastal Carolina University, 100 Chanticleer Dr E, Conway, SC

JIM MACKENZIE
Jim MacKenzie lives in Asheville, comfortably hidden away in the mountains of Western North Carolina. He's appeared in Bride of the Monster Serial, a horror compilation book about forgotten monster movies. Jim enjoys writing about authors, especially regional, and researching literary history. He enjoys the strange and the uncanny, but never both together. That's just overwhelming. In his spare time, he enjoys reading, playing music, and travel.