Sasha Alyson
(? - living) U.S.A.
Publisher
Gay activist, in 1980 Sasha founded one of the country's earliest gay publishing companies: Alyson Publications. It quickly became the leading publisher of lesbian and gay books, with an emphasis on providing books for gay teenagers (such as Reflections of a Rock Lobster and Young, Gay and Proud!) and for children, including the controversial Heather Has Two Mommies.
Sasha also founded Boston's gay newspaper, Bay Windows, and in 1987 he initiated an industry-wide program to publish the book You Can Do Something About AIDS, the most widely distributed AIDS book of the time. His varied activities have earned him the first Lambda Literary Award for Publishing, and the "Publisher of the Year" award from the New England Booksellers Association.
Sasha Alyson continued his long history of breaking new ground in the gay and lesbian community. In 1995 he sold his publishing company, and now brings that same spirit of innovation to the world of gay and lesbian travel, creating "Alyson Adventures". In 2002, Alyson Adventures merged with Hanns Ebensten Travel, the nation's oldest gay travel specialist. Both companies now operate from the same location, but maintain separate identities, in Key West, Florida.
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