Vic Sussman was the nickname of Victor Stephan Sussman (November 21, 1939 – November 22, 2004) an American newspaper and radio

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

. He was best known for writing about

vegetarianism Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

and the

internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

but was also influential in the

recumbent bicycle A recumbent bicycle is a bicycle that places the rider in a laid-back reclining position, and often called a Human-powered_land_vehicle, human-powered vehicle or HPV, especially if it has an aerodynamic fairing. Recumbents are available in a w ...

and

stage magic A stage illusion is a large-scale magic trick. As the name implies, stage illusions are distinct from other types of magic in that they are performed a considerable distance away from the audience, usually on a stage, in order to maintain the illu ...

communities.

Education

Sussman received a bachelor's and a master's degrees in communications from

American University The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...

Involvement with the Internet

Sussman was one of the first American journalists whose full-time

beat Beat, beats, or beating may refer to: Common uses * Assault, inflicting physical harm or unwanted physical contact * Battery (crime), a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact * Battery (tort), a civil wrong in common law of inte ...

was the Internet. He was directly involved in two historic events: the first public use of

chat Chat or chats may refer to: Communication * Conversation, particularly casual * Online chat, text message communication over the Internet in real-time * Synchronous conferencing, a formal term for online chat * SMS chat, a form of text messagi ...

by a Vice President of the United States and the first email sent from the

North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distingu ...

. The bulk of Sussman's notable contributions to the Internet community occurred in the early to mid 90s while working for US News and The Washington Post. During the late 1990s and early 2000s Sussman worked on Internet and Web projects for

America Online AOL (formerly a company known as AOL Inc. and originally known as America Online) is an American web portal and online service provider based in New York City, and a brand marketed by Yahoo! Inc. (2017–present), Yahoo! Inc. The service tra ...

and

Cahners Publishing RELX plc (pronounced "Rel-ex") is a British multinational information and analytics company headquartered in London, England. Its businesses provide scientific, technical and medical information and analytics; legal information and analytics; ...

. He also had a brief career as a speaker at conferences and corporate events, where he talked about the future of the Internet.

''US News & World Report''

Sussman worked for '' U.S. News & World Report'' from 1989 to 1996. During the early 1990s he began covering the emerging Information Superhighway. He wrote articles that helped to bring public attention to the arrest of

Kevin Mitnick Kevin David Mitnick (August 6, 1963 – July 16, 2023) was an American computer security consultant, author, and convicted hacker. In 1995, he was arrested for various computer and communications-related crimes, and spent five years in prison ...

and the criminal investigation of

Phil Zimmermann Philip R. Zimmermann (born 1954) is an American computer scientist and cryptographer. He is the creator of Pretty Good Privacy (PGP), the most widely used email encryption software in the world. He is also known for his work in VoIP encryption ...

by the US

Customs Service Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out of a country. Traditionally, customs ...

. In 1994 Sussman was involved with the planning and execution of an "electronic town meeting" in which Vice President

Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American former politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He previously served as ...

answered questions posted via

Compuserve CompuServe, Inc. (CompuServe Information Service, Inc., also known by its initialism CIS or later CSi) was an American Internet company that provided the first major commercial online service provider, online service. It opened in 1969 as a times ...

chat. This marked the first time that a member of the

Oval Office The Oval Office is the formal working space of the president of the United States. Part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, it is in the West Wing of the White House, in Washington, D.C. The oval room has three lar ...

had used

online chat Online chat is any direct text-, audio- or video-based (webcams), one-on-one or one-to-many ( group) chat (formally also known as synchronous conferencing), using tools such as instant messengers, Internet Relay Chat (IRC), talkers and possi ...

to communicate with the public. Sussman was also the recipient of the first email sent from the

. The email was sent in August 1995 by Mike Powers, commander of the Coast Guard ice breaker Polar Sea.

''The Washington Post''

In 1996 Sussman was hired by

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

and worked for the newly launche
washingtonpost.com
While there he created a live chat discussion forum called Live Online (later rebranded a
live.washingtonpost.com
. Sussman also hosted a show called Love It, Hate It, Rate It which encouraged audience members to voice their opinions via

Organic farming and vegetarianism

Sussman owned a two-acre farm in Potomac and worked as an

organic farmer Organic farming, also known as organic agriculture or ecological farming or biological farming,Labelling, article 30 o''Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2024 on organic production and labelling of ...

."Vic Sussman, 65, author, journalist, organic farmer"
''The Boston Globe''. Retrieved January 22, 2020. He pressed his own

apple cider Apple cider (also called sweet cider, soft cider, or simply cider) is the name used in the United States and Canada for an unfiltered, unsweetened, non-alcoholic beverage made from apples. Though typically referred to simply as "cider" in North ...

and raised goats for

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of lactating mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfeeding, breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. ...

and

yoghurt Yogurt (; , from , ; also spelled yoghurt, yogourt or yoghourt) is a food produced by bacterial fermentation of milk. Fermentation of sugars in the milk by these bacteria produces lactic acid, which acts on milk protein to give yogurt its tex ...

. His house was heated with wood that he cut. He had no television and he ran up to six miles a day. ''The Vegetarian Alternative'' was Sussman's first book, published in 1978. It was co-authored by his wife, Betsy Sussman. Sussman favoured a lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet."The Vegetarian Alternative"
''Kirkus Reviews''. Retrieved January 22, 2020. He also authored a book, ''Easy Composting'' in 1982.

Selected publications

*''The Vegetarian Alternative: A Guide to a Healthful and Humane Diet'' (Rodale Press, 1978) *''Never Kiss a Goat on the Lips: The Adventures of a Suburban Homesteader'' (Rodale Press, 1981) *''Easy Composting'' (Rodale Press, 1982)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sussman, Vic 1939 births 2004 deaths Mass media people from Queens, New York American University School of Communication alumni American radio reporters and correspondents American male journalists American vegetarianism activists Journalists from New York City Organic farmers