Gail Ann Williams (born in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...

) was the director of

The WELL The Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link, normally shortened to The WELL, was launched in 1985. It is one of the oldest continuously operating virtual communities. By 1993 it had 7,000 members, a staff of 12, and gross annual income of $2 million. ...

from 1998 to 2016. She graduated from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

in the 1970s and got involved in political theater as both a creative and management member of the Plutonium Players troupe. She was a principal in their long-touring satirical show spoofing anti-feminist politics, ''Ladies Against Women'', throughout the years of the

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

presidency. The show was inspired in part by the anti-feminist campaigns of Phyllis Schlafly, who was parodied by the troupe as Phyllis LeShaft. In the same period the troupe created the "Reagan for Shah Campaign," featuring numerous fictional constituent organizations of which Ladies Against Women was the most popular. The show toured the East and West Coasts in 1980 and performed outside the Republican Convention in Dallas in 1984. Both Ladies Against Women and Reagan for Shah were cited by Andrew Boyd as helping to inspire his

Billionaires for Bush Billionaires for Bush was a culture jamming political street theater organization that satirically purported to support George W. Bush, drawing attention to policies which were perceived to benefit corporations and the super-wealthy. The group would ...

theatrical project. In December 1991, she joined the management team of the prototypic

online community An online community, also called an internet community or web community, is a community whose members interact with each other primarily via the Internet. Members of the community usually share common interests. For many, online communities may fe ...

, The WELL, in the role of community manager. In 1998 she took the post of Executive Director. When The WELL was acquired by

Salon.com ''Salon'' is an American politically progressive/liberal news and opinion website created in 1995. It publishes articles on U.S. politics, culture, and current events. Content and coverage ''Salon'' covers a variety of topics, including re ...

in 1999, Williams stayed on. Currently she serves as Salon's Director of Communities, overseeing The WELL and Salon's Table Talk community. She is a member of the

International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences or IADAS is an international organization founded in 1998 in New York City to help drive the creative, technical, and professional progress of the Internet and evolving forms of interactive and ...

. In 2000 Williams was named as one of the Top 25 Women of the Web.

References

External links

Gail Ann Williams
official website
Women Who Inspire Us: Gail Ann Williams
Utne Reader.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Gail Living people American satirists American women computer scientists American computer scientists Year of birth missing (living people) Actresses from San Francisco University of California, Berkeley alumni Salon (website) people American stage actresses Comedians from California Women satirists 21st-century American women