The name of Joe Engrassia, a.k.a. Joybubbles, may not mean much to those in today's telco community, but in some ways he was the original public network hacker, a so-called "phone phreak" who could mimic electronic tones well enough that he could initiate free calls. Hacking has become serious business, but Joybubbles was a throwback to a more free-spirited time, when a phone phreak could inspire legions, and occasionally get arrested, but not necessarily cause too much damage in the process. Read the obituary in The New York Times
