Steve Mills (1957 – June 3, 2023)[1] was an American juggler and unicyclist from Morristown, New Jersey. He was the inventor of the "Mills' Mess" juggling pattern.[2][3] Mills was taught to juggle by Ron Graham, a juggler and mathematician.[4]
Apparently [Ron] Graham experimented with many patterns that crossed hands or changed direction in the Mess way, some of which were likely to be close to the current Mess: Steve studied Ron's patterns, and other jugglers as well, including films of Vaudeville jugglers. From this stew, the Mess emerged. Ron and Steve juggled at the YMCA in Morristown, N.J., when the mess was created, but the name "Mills Mess" was given to this trick some years later on the West coast by Ed Jackman, Barrett Felker, and/or Norm Johnson.
I learned from Ronald Graham, a well known mathmetician [sic]... in 1972, when Ron continually prodded me to give it a try.