The Black Vault: “These records were provided by the family of anthologist and transparency activist Russ Kick, from his papers, facilitated by the generous assistance of Dr. Susan Maret. This is not a complete collection set of his papers, but rather, a selection of items sent to The Black Vault for digital preservation. Biography – Russell Charles Kick III (July 20, 1969 – September 12, 2021), or Russ Kick, was an American writer, editor, and publisher. Early in his career, Kick wrote articles, a column, and a cover story for The Village Voice. He was the founder and editor of The Memory Hole, Memory Hole 2, and Altgov2, which published and archived U.S. government documents, including scientific studies, documents received under FOIA and civil rights-related reports, intelligence and covert action reports, consumer safety reports, and images including photographs of flag-draped coffins of American military personnel. These photographs of the war dead garnered worldwide media attention, including heavy rotation on all 24-hour news channels and front-page coverage on major newspapers, including The New York Times. The Memory Hole also gained attention for posting a completely uncensored version of a Justice Department report about its internal hiring practices, leading to a front-page story in The New York Times. Kick was editor-at-large for The Disinformation Company and he wrote three books and edited six anthologies for them, including You Are Being Lied To and 50 Things You’re Not Supposed to Know. He also was editing an anthology of classic and contemporary poems about death for Disinformation and Red Wheel/Weiser. From 2018 to 2021, he was the director of open records for Rise for the Animals where he expanded the ARLO (Animal Research Laboratory Overview) database  to include information obtained through FOIA and public records requests related to animal experimentation and research facilities. At the age of 52, Kick died on September 12, 2021, in Tucson, Arizona. Kick’s obituary can be found at the Washington Post.”