Marshall McLuhan

Marshall McLuhan, late of Edmonton, Canada, is undoubtedly an important thinker to reflect upon as we embark upon the new millennium. His major tome, Understanding Media, is rife with insight. Operating from his basic premise that "the medium is the message," McLuhan doesn't flinch from making amazingly broad and often quite astounding observations. Although once admired for his prose but clowned for his ideas, McLuhan seems increasingly pertinent in our souped-up image-devouring cyberculture -- (He spoke of the "global village" before the Internet was a gleam in the Pentagon's eye.) As the world moves at the speed of CNN and technology more and more often dictates culture, Mr. McLuhan seems ever more a sage ahead of his time.