David Lassman

David Lassman (born 1963) is a British author, arts journalist and scriptwriter responsible for the 'Rejecting Jane' article, which became the 'literary story of 2007'.
Biography
Born in Bath, England, Lassman was educated at Beechen Cliff School, Bath (1974-1980).
He began his writing career as a columnist and arts reviewer for local and regional newspapers including the Bath Chronicle, Bournemouth Daily Echo and Big Issue South West. After graduating from Bournemouth University's prestigious Media School, with a BA (Hons) degree in Scriptwriting for Film and Television, he began writing for the screen and making regular appearances on radio and television. One of the first fruits of this new direction was on Radio Four’s 'First Person Plural' alongside Simon Nye and Birds of a Feather writer Sue Teddern.
Although a frequent visitor to Greece, in January 2003 he moved permanently to the island of Symi where he began writing the novel Freedom’s Temple, which is a modern take on the story of the Theseus and the Minotaur myth. While on the island he also wrote several shorter pieces of fiction which were published in English language newspapers and Greek periodicals, including his best known short story 'The Painting' - a semi-mystical love story set on Symi.
Rejecting Jane
The initial negative response to Freedom's Temple, received after his return to the UK in July 2006, contributed to his writing the article 'Rejecting Jane’, a critique of the publishing industry through their inadvertent rejection of Jane Austen. Using the pseudonym ‘Alison Laydee’, - a play on Austen’s original non de plume A Lady its contents made global headlines and Lassman appeared on radio and television programmes worldwide, including American news programmes and TV talk shows such as Good Morning America.
Crazy About Jane
The ‘Rejecting Jane’ article and its author are subjects of the 2008 documentary ‘Crazy About Jane’, which received its world premiere at the 8th International Jane Austen Festival in Bath. Lassman unwittingly received further media attention after quotes he made during the promotion of the documentary sparked controversy within the Jane Austen tourist industry.

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