Staff Biographies
Alan Beatts
 Alan Beatts is
the founder of Borderlands. Prior to opening
the store, Alan worked in a number of positions in the Law
Enforcement
/ Private Security field after studying Administration of
Justice in
college. He worked as (among other things) a firearms
instructor,
offensive/defensive driving instructor (a job that
influences his
habits even now, as anyone who drives with him c
an tell you),
bodyguard, strike security officer and private
investigator. After many
years in that field he decided that a change might be
nice.
Pursuing his love of bars and nightclubs, Alan worked for
three years as a nightclub promoter and DJ in the San
Francisco goth
and industrial scene. This led, by some unknown process,
to managing a
motorcycle repair shop. After managing a few other
businesses he
realized two things: that he absolutely loved running
businesses and
that he wasn't really cut out to work for someone else.
Retail
businesses had always interested him and, combined with
his love of
books and SF, the choice seemed obvious. About six months
later,
Borderlands was the result.
It was one of the best decisions he has ever made.
In his free time Alan does recreational woodworking and
cabinetry (he built most of the furniture and shelves in
the store),
reads as much as he ever did, and still enjoys two of the
fixtures of
his past careers -- shooting and dancing (NOT, as some may
claim, at
the same time).
Jude Feldman
 Jude Feldman, Borderlands'
General Manager, wears a lot of
black, because she has no color matching sense and can't
be bothered to
develop any. She is a former liberal arts student, welder,
scenic tech,
and computer micro-assembly technician who was swallowed
by this
marvelous science fiction, fantasy and horror bookstore in
2001.
She hasn't really been seen since.
Before that, she held a variety of jobs including one
where
she got hit in the head with cardboard wine boxes for
nearly a whole
day before quitting. Jude handles all of Borderlands'
special orders, a
lot of new and used book-buying, and everything else that
no one else
wants to handle. She lives in San Francisco, has a minor
obsession with
the store's hairless cat, and finds it pretentious to
refer to herself
in the third person.
Cary Heater
 Cary Heater has no actual
physical existence outside of
Borderlands. She is the ruthless mistress of returns as
well as being
the number one clerk at the shop. When the store closes,
we fold her up
and store her in the bottom of Jude's desk drawer.
She quite likes this existence.
Jeremy Lassen
 Jeremy Lassen won the World
Fantasy Award for his publishing and editing work. He has
worked at independent bookstores for 20
years, and reads broadly in the science fiction, fantasy,
mystery and horror genres, as well
as "mainstream" fiction. The depth and breadth of his
knowledge is
staggering, and he is modest to boot. He can usually be
found at Borderlands on Sundays, and is always happy to
give a book recommendation, or an opinion on just about
any subject. His favorite game is Name That
Book. "Don't know the author, or the title of the
book? That's okay. I'll figure it out. What
color was the cover?"
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