Sassy (magazine)

The magazine was founded in March 1988[1] by an Australian feminist, Sandra Yates, CEO of Matilda Publications, who based it on the teen magazine Dolly. Women Aglow, an evangelical women's group, boycotted Sassy due to its content about sexuality immediately following its start.[2]

Sassy's founding editor was Jane Pratt.[3] The magazine's original main writers were referred to by Pratt as "Sex" (Karen Catchpole), "Drugs" (Catherine Gysin), and "Rock 'n Roll" (Christina Kelly)[4] because of the topics they covered. Executive Editor Mary Kaye Schilling became Editor-in-Chief in 1990, when Pratt went on to host a daytime talk show.[3] When Schilling left, Christina Kelly was promoted to Editor and remained in that position until the magazine's end. Kelly hired Erin Smith of Bratmobile as her intern in 1991.[3][5] The fashion department was headed by Mary Clarke, Jacinta Dobson, and Andrea Lee Linett, who discovered Chloë Sevigny on the street and hired her as an intern. The distinctive look of the magazine was created by Cheryl Collins, who had worked at Australia's Dolly. When Collins left, Schilling hired Noel Claro to art direct the magazine.[3]

Sassy was first published in March 1988 in the United States by Matilda Publications with a circulation of 250,000. It was acquired by Lang Communications in October 1989, at which point its circulation was 450,000.[6] Petersen Publishing officially took over with the February–March 1995 issue,[7] and its editorial offices were moved to Los Angeles from New York City. It then stopped publishing as its own title in 1996, when editorial sections (and staff) of Sassy were absorbed into another magazine published by Petersen called `TEEN [8] beginning with the January 1997 issue.[9]

In 1992, Sassy spun off a short-lived title for teen boys called Dirt: Son of Sassy. It was created by Mark Lewman (words), Andy Jenkins (art direction) and Spike Jonze (photos), who went on to direct music videos and feature films. They were collectively known as "the Master Cluster." According to Canadian author Douglas Coupland, "Dirt was a funny and smart magazine for young people".[10]

Sassy anticipated "crowd sourced" content by over a decade, starting with their "every single little thing in this issue is reader-produced" December 1990 issue. Originally conceived by Alan Goodman's and Fred Seibert's Fred/Alan Inc., Sassy advertising agency.

Sassy conducted an annual search for the Sassiest Girl in America, and in 1990, Sassy magazine conducted a search for the Sassiest Boy in America. Over 150 entries were received, with the eventual winner being Ian Svenonius of Nation of Ulysses.[3] In the story highlighting his selection, Pratt states, "He's going to be a big deal. I'm sure he will be and we're going to be so proud that we were the first ones to discover him." However, it was discovered that Svenonius wasn't a "boy" at all, but rather lied about his age, as he was 22 at the time of his selection—too old, per contest rules. He was allowed to retain his title.[11]

Sassy's in-house band was named after the Chia Pet,[3] with various members from the editorial staff, including Jane Pratt on violin, Mary Kaye Schilling and Christina Kelly on vocals, Kelly's then-husband Robert Weeks on guitar, her then-sister-in-law (and Sassy writer) Jessica Vitkus Weeks on bass guitar, Mary Ann Marshall (also a Sassy scribe) on drums. Karen Catchpole lent co-lead vocals to some songs including "Hey Baby" and "Don't You Want Me Baby".[12] The band once opened for The Lemonheads[13] at iconic now-closed New York City rock club CBGB.

In April 2007, Faber and Faber released a tribute to and history of Sassy by former Teen Vogue editor Kara Jesella and Marisa Meltzer called How Sassy Changed My Life: A Love Letter to the Greatest Teen Magazine of All Time.[3] The book recounts the magazine's rise and fall; its unusual appeal to both men and women, teenagers and adults; and its influence on mainstream as well as alternative women's magazines. It includes interviews with staffers and fans.

• Jane magazine
• Dolly magazine
• "Sassy's Sassiest Boys"

• The Sassy Era at WWD
• Sissy Magazine at Blairmag: the lost December 1994 issue -- Sassy's Last Issue Ever Archived 2006-10-29 at the Wayback Machine
• Too Young to Know: The Selling of Sassy
• KICKING SASS -- sassy's dead. R.I.P. Sassy. And it's about damn time.
• Why Jane Pratt's "Jane" never quite lived up to Jane Pratt's "Sassy" Archived 2006-05-20 at the Wayback Machine
• The New York Review of Magazines: We Still Love Sassy
• Interview with Jane Pratt in The Oberlin Review
• Cute Band Alert: How Sassy magazine created a new sex object.
• Sonic Youth 7" info
• Issue 8 of Dirt, never published (archived site that went offline in 2006; may contain dead links and broken images)
• Wired.com article on Dirt
• Hawaiian youth magazine also entitled Sassy Archived 2004-06-03 at the Wayback Machine
• Some of the articles Marjorie Ingall wrote for Sassy (as Margie Ingall)
• Recent articles by ex-Sassy writer/editor Marjorie Ingall
• Confessions of a Sassy Girl article by writer Mengly Taing Archived 2008-07-24 at the Wayback Machine
• NPR's Talk of the Nation on Sassy, April 25, 2007
• February 1990 cover: The Sassiest Girl in America Archived 2008-05-14 at the Wayback Machine
• Exploring Sassy Magazine's Role as a Pioneer of Social Media