Stacy Horn facts for kids

Stacy Horn was born on June 3, 1956, in Norfolk, Virginia. She is an American author, a businesswoman, and sometimes works as a journalist.

Stacy grew up on Long Island, New York. She studied at Tufts University and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts. Later, she earned a graduate degree from New York University's Interactive Telecommunications Program. In 1990, after working for a company called Mobil Corporation, Stacy Horn started her own online community called Echo.

What Was Echo?

Creating an Online Hangout

Stacy Horn started Echo, also known as EchoNYC, in New York City in 1990. Think of Echo as an early online meeting place, like a special club on the internet. People who joined Echo were called Echoids. Unlike many online places today, members used their real names instead of usernames. Stacy was inspired by another old online community called The WELL. She later said that Echo stood for "East Coast Hang Out."

A Place for Great Conversations

Stacy Horn wanted Echo to be a place where people could talk about interesting things. She hoped discussions would focus on books, movies, and culture. At that time, many online groups mostly talked about computers. Echo started in Stacy's apartment in Greenwich Village during her free time. But it quickly became very popular! So many people wanted to join that it used up all the phone lines in her neighborhood. The phone company even had to install a special cable just for her apartment.

In 1990, Echo became a real company. Stacy chose a group of early members who were good at starting exciting discussions. These members helped attract more users to Echo. Stacy later gave 20 years of Echo's online conversations and history to the New York Historical Society. This means future generations can learn about this early online community.

Stacy Horn's Books

Sharing Stories and Ideas

Stacy Horn has written several books, sharing her experiences and research. Her first book, Cyberville: Clicks, Culture and the Creation of an Online Town, came out in 1998. This book tells the story of the community that grew on Echo. It also talks about the challenges Stacy faced as the person in charge of Echo. The book shares her thoughts on what it was like to live in an online world. Even today, this book is used in classes that study how online communities work.

Exploring Different Topics

Her second book, Waiting For My Cats to Die: A Morbid Memoir (2001), is a personal story about her life. She also talked about similar ideas in commentaries for NPR's All Things Considered radio show.

Stacy's third book, The Restless Sleep: Inside New York City's Cold Case Squad (2005), is about real-life mysteries. It tells the stories of four unsolved cases in New York City. The book also describes the detectives who work hard to solve these old cases.

In 2009, she published her fourth book, Unbelievable: Investigations into Ghosts, Poltergeists, Telepathy, and Other Unseen Phenomena, from the Duke Parapsychology Laboratory. This book explores strange and unseen events.

Her fifth book, Imperfect Harmony: Finding Happiness Singing With Others (2013), is all about singing. It shares how much joy people can find when they sing together.

Her sixth book, Damnation Island: Poor, Sick, Mad, and Criminal in 19th-Century New York (2018), is about Blackwell's Island. This island was once a place for people who were poor, sick, or in trouble in New York City during the 1800s.

Stacy Horn's seventh book is planned for January 2025. It will explore the connection between certain types of crime and how they affect neighborhoods across America.