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Aaron Swartz

Monday, January 14, 2013

Internet Activist Aaron Swartz's Teachers Remember 'Brilliant' Student

The Internet pioneer passed away this weekend in an apparent suicide. He was a student at North Shore Country Day School and grew up in Highland Park. His funeral is Tuesday morning.

Teachers and administrators at North Shore Country Day School in Winnetka remember former student Aaron Swartz as extremely intelligent and curious. Swartz, an Internet activist, co-creator of social news website Reddit and founder of Demand Progress, was found dead in an apparent suicide on Friday in his apartment in Brooklyn. He was 26. Swartz grew up in Highland Park and attended North Shore Country Day School through 9th grade. “He was a very creative boy and a very clever and bright child,” said Pam Whalley, head of lower school. “He was always engaged in school work. He loved … the creative opportunities he had here.” Whalley also noted that Swartz demonstrated the ability to tackle complex problems at a young age.  “He was always …

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Internet Pioneer Aaron Swartz, 26, Commits Suicide

The Highland Park native helped create the RSS feed when he was 14. He was facing federal charges at the time of his death. His funeral is Tuesday at Central Avenue Synagogue.

Aaron Swartz, a Highland Park native and activist for free content on the Internet, was found dead Friday in his Brooklyn apartment in an apparent suicide, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. He was 26. Swartz helped create the RSS feed, which allows people to subscribe to information online, when he was just 14, according to an article in the New York Times. He also helped found Reddit, a social news website. He went on to become an activist for free online content, which landed him in trouble with the federal government in 2011 when he was indicted for gaining illegal access to a subscription-based service that distributes literary and scientific journals and then downloading nearly its entire library CNN quoted a statement from Swartz's…

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