Sassy Magazine

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Sassy Magazine is a defunct cult fave teen magazine that has fans of both sexes and all ages. It was founded by an Australian feminist, Sandra Yates, CEO of Matilda Publications, who based it on the already successful teen magazine Dolly, which is still in publication in Australia. Because its demise is still much lamented by fans, issues of the magazine are being traded on eBay for large sums as treasured collectors' items.

Contents

[edit] Editorial Staff

Its founding editor was Jane Pratt and had a half Australian-half American staff. Its original main writers were referred to by Pratt as "Sex" (Karen Catchpole), "Drugs" (Catherine Gysin), and "Rock 'n Roll" (Christina Kelly) because of the topics they covered. The fashion department was headed by Mary Clarke and Andrea Lee Linett, and one of their discoveries was Chloë Sevigny, who they spotted on the street and hired as an intern. The Australian half of the staff covered the art & design (Neil McCutcheon) and beauty departments.

[edit] Publishers

It was published in the United States by Lang Communications from 1987 to 1994, when it was sold to Petersen Publishing and its editorial offices were moved to Los Angeles from Manhattan. It then stopped publishing as its own title in 1996, when editorial sections of Sassy were absorbed into another magazine published by Petersen called 'Teen.

[edit] Dirt Magazine

In the early 1990s, Sassy spun off a short-lived title for teen boys called Dirt, which was edited by Andy Jenkins, Mark Lewman and Spike Jonze (collectively known as "the Master Cluster"). It published seven sporadic issues before ending its run in 1994.

[edit] Chia Pet

Sassy's in-house band was named after the Chia Pet, with various members from the editorial staff, including Jane Pratt on violin, Christina Kelly on vocals, her husband Robert Weeks on guitar, her sister in law Jessica Vitkus Weeks (and Sassy writer) on bass guitar, Mary Ann Marshall (also a Sassy scribe) on drums. Karen Catchpole also lent co-lead vocals to some songs.

[edit] Releases

1. Hey Baby
2. Lunch
3. Blind Date
16. Don't You Want Me Baby

[edit] How Sassy Changed My Life

In April 2007, Faber and Faber will publish a tribute to and history of Sassy by Kara Jesella and Marisa Meltzer called How Sassy Changed My Life: A Love Letter to the Greatest Teen Magazine of All Time. The book recounts the magazine's rise and fall; its unusual appeal to both men and women, teenagers and adults; and also its far-reaching influence on mainstream as well as alternative women's magazines. It will include interviews with staffers and fans.

[edit] Trivia

  • Three teen magazines have now folded under Christina Kelly as Editor in Chief: first Sassy Magazine, then YM Magazine, and most recently ELLEgirl.
  • Sassy is also a Hawaiian youth magazine published by Double Talk Publishing. Its companion title is G. Both titles are unaffiliated with Jane Pratt's periodical.
  • Sassy was the subject of some mockery and criticism during its run for what some saw as superficiality and trendiness. These attacks included a profanity-laden rant by the lead character in the first chapter of the popular Dan Clowes graphic novel Ghost World, and the recurring Saturday Night Live sketch with Phil Hartman as "Russell Clark, Senior Editor of Sassy Magazine" serving as the rather strenuously hip host of a roundtable discussion of "sassy" young men -- with Hartman's character inexplicably declaring every utterance from the men "SASSY!!!"

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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