Stacy Horn

Stacy Horn (born June 3, 1956, in Norfolk, Virginia) is an American author, businesswoman and occasional journalist. [cite news |title=Sound Bytes; An Electronic Salon, in N.Y. |author=John Markoff |date=1994-03-27 |work=The New York Times |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A03E5D7113CF934A15750C0A962958260 ] She grew up on Long Island, New York and received a B.F.A. from Tufts University and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts. Her graduate degree is from NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program, where she later taught a course called "Virtual Culture."

In 1989, after working in telecommunications, Horn founded Echo, a bbs-based online community that positioned her as one of the few prominent females in the early days of Internet culture. Her first book, "Cyberville: Clicks, Culture and the Creation of an Online Town" (Warner Books, 1998), describes the community that formed on Echo, the problems Horn encountered as Echo's final authority, and her observations about the nature of the virtual world. Through the 90s, she was often profiled and quoted in articles about life and business on the internet. Her book is still used in courses on the sociology of virtual communities.

The publication of her second book, "Waiting For My Cats to Die: A Morbid Memoir" (St. Martin’s Press, 2001), a memoir about her midlife crisis, revealing an unusual fascination with death, coincided with a series of commentaries for the NPR's All Things Considered, often reflecting that same fascination.

Her third book, "The Restless Sleep: Inside New York City’s Cold Case Squad" (Viking, 2005), in which she recounts the stories of four of New York's cold cases and profiles the detectives who investigate them, coincided with an increased public interest in cold cases, making her once again a frequent expert resource for journalists and a sometime commentator on issues touching on crime and murder.

In 2006, Horn continues to run Echo and is at work on a book about J.B. Rhine and the Duke Parapsychology Laboratory, to be published by HarperCollins in 2008.

EchoNYC

Stacy Horn founded EchoNYC, a New York City Internet salon, in 1989, whose members are called Echoids. [cite news |title=The Net's Horn of Plenty |author=Kenneth Li |date=1998-03-08 |work=Daily News |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/money/1998/03/08/1998-03-08_the_net_s_horn_of_plenty.html |accessdate=2008-07-14] [cite news |title=Echoids |author=Harold Goldberg |date=1998-02-15 |work=The New York Times |url=http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/02/15/reviews/980215.15goldbet.htm] The WELL, one of the oldest virtual communities in continuous operation, was an influence. Horn later decided that Echo stood for "East Coast Hang Out".cite news |title=Sound Bytes; An Electronic Salon, in N.Y. |author=John Markoff |date=1994-03-27 |work=The New York Times |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A03E5D7113CF934A15750C0A962958260 ]

Horn conceptualized the Echo bulletin board system as a place where conversation could revolve around literature, film, culture, and sex, rather than the more pervasive topics of computer technology at the time. [cite news |title=Not for women only: But they are the target audience of the Echo computer on-line service |author=Karen Uhlenhuth |date=1995-11-02 |work=The Kansas City Star] Originally run out of Horn's apartment in Greenwich Village in her spare time, Echo rapidly expanded its membership, and eventually consumed every free phone line in her Greenwich Village neighborhood, requiring New York Telephone to run a separate cable to Horn's apartment. [cite news |title=BOOM TIME ON THE NEW FRONTIER |author=Thomas A. Stewart |date=1993-09-27 |work=Fortune |url=http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1993/09/27/78374/index.htm ] In 1990, Echo became a company with a core group of members chosen by Horn for their "strong on-line personalities", who were responsible for creating enticing discussions to attract users. [cite news |title=Coming to the East Coast: An Electronic Salon |author=Trish Hall |date=1990-01-28 |work=The New York Times |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE5D91E3BF93BA15752C0A966958260 |accessdate=2008-07-15]

elected bibliography

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References

External links

* [http://www.stacyhorn.com Stacy Horn’s Official Website] .
* [http://www.therestlesssleep.com Stacy Horn’s Restless Sleep Blog] - A resource for cold case investigation.