| Band Members | This list is incomplete as we are still gathering information from old members, and not all have yet given permission for us to list their names online.
Active Members:
Lila is an independent scholar specializing in literary sci-fi, fantasy, horror, anime, manga and gender studies. She has published short fiction and poetry in several magazines and journals, has an article in the upcoming Encyclopedia of Women in Science Fiction, and has been nominated for the BSFA and the Rhysling. She is a frequent face and occasional panelist at literary F&SF cons across the US and Canada. She has been a member of Sassafrass from the beginning. Her blog is at Engine Summer.
Irina is a High School Latin teacher, but also proficient in French and a student of many other languages from Japanese to Provencal. She runs a series of educational podcasts on Ovid. She was one of the original founders of Sassafrass and has remained one of its most enthusiastic members. Irina's primary fan activities are gaming, videogaming and anime and manga, with a special focus on the history of shoujo and women's literature in Japan. Her blog is at seishonagon.livejournal.com.
Ada is a graduate student in European Intellectual History, focusing on Renaissance Italy, and hoping to finish her doctorate soon. She is also the composer of almost all Sassafrass's music. She took Peabody music theory courses in childhood, and has studied violin, piano, guitar, and various medieval instruments, but her compositions are primarily vocal. Outside the Filking world, Ada enjoys most sci-fi, fantasy and gaming activities, especially LARPing and costuming. She is active in the anime fan community running cosplay and gameshow events like Cosplay Human Chess, primarily atAnime Boston. She is the cosplay columnist for Tokyopop.com and runs TezukaInEnglish.com, the primary English language web source on the founder of modern manga, Osamu Tezuka. Ada suffers from RSI so she does not have a blog, but on LJ others usually refer to her as Thrud.
Lauren is another of the founding members of Sassafrass. She is a librarian with a Masters in library science, and primarily interested in science and new library technologies. Lauren is fond of musicals and the musical styles of the 1920s through 1950s, and brings a different tone to Sassafrass's mostly-Renaissance feel. She too is a sci-fi/fantasy fan and active cosplayer, and has staffed many anime cons, running gameshows and cosplay events. Lauren is the administrator and primary contact for the Sassafrass website and LJ community. She has a blog on Livejournal.
Ruth was a friend and classmate of the founders of Sassafrass back at Bryn Mawr and supported us with her enthusiasm for many years, but only recently became an active member. She is a therapist, specializing in clients from alternative lifestyle subcultures, such as goths, punks, gays, lesbians, nerds, otaku etc. She recently completed her doctorate, conducting research on how therapists' values affect their approaches to treating clients who practice BDSM (bondage & discipline, dominance & submission, sadism & masochism). Ruth's blog is gaudior.livejournal.com.
Active members who have yet to submit bios include Zara and others.
The cover and insert art for Sassafrass's CDs are done by Laura Higgins Palmer, Ada's mother, who specializes in oil painting and ink drawings of dancers. More of her work can be found at StudioLHP.com. |
