William Ford Gibson is an American-Canadian speculative fiction writer and essayist widely credited with pioneering the science fiction sub-genre known as cyberpunk. Beginning his writing career in the late 1970s, his early works were noir, near-future stories that explored the effects of technology, cybernetics, and computer networks on humans—a phenomenon central to the postmodern experience. Gibson's contributions to the genre have led to the widespread popularity of cyberpunk during the 1980s and 90s. His debut novel, 'Neuromancer', which was published in 1984, won multiple awards and solidified his reputation as a leading figure in the cyberpunk movement. He continued to release successful novels throughout his career, including 'Pattern Recognition' and 'The Peripheral', which expanded on his cyberpunk themes while also exploring new stylistic and narrative directions. As of my knowledge cutoff in 2023, Gibson is alive and continues to be an influential figure in the field of science fiction.