About Us

Ellyn and Miriam were born just four days apart, in February 1985. Ellyn came out of her mom feet first, via an emergency c-section, ten days later than anticipated. She attempted to come into the world standing on her own two feet, like she saw her future and tried to be prepared. Miriam was also delivered by c-section, three weeks early, because the doctors thought she was in trouble. She wasn’t (and still isn’t). Ellyn and Miriam met twenty-three years later, in a writing class in Manhattan, and quickly realized they were leading parallel lives.

Within four months of starting jfklax.com, both girls moved in with their boyfriends (a feat that has resulted in several but-I-want-to-punch-him-in-the-face-right-now text message exchanges). Ellyn comes from a Methodist family but cohabitates with a Jew. They recently moved from Jersey City, NJ to San Diego, CA. Miriam was raised Orthodox Jewish but lives with a non-Jew in Los Angeles, CA. Both girls are the eldest of three sisters, all of whom would unanimously agree on their mutual bossiness. Incidentally, they are also divorce children—and convinced that support checks, every other weekend, and some holidays give them an edge. Which is clearly why they are writing memoirs.

Ellyn Rice finally moved to the West Coast after four years of working in Manhattan. She graduated from Penn State in ‘07, starry-eyed and ready to conquer the world of advertising. Now an Excel whiz and cubicle caged, she plans and buys digital media while feverishly writing after hours. She lives downtown in San Diego with her boyfriend, Shaun Savage, and sort of wishes there was a subway that went to the beach. She takes writing classes, is published on Minyanville.com and has been blogging since 2005 at ricellyn.blogspot.com.

Miriam Datskovsky moved to Los Angeles last year, where she and her boyfriend, Bryan Keefer, slave away writing television comedy scripts together. When Miriam’s not doing that, she’s busy trying to sell a memoir about her unorthodox upbringing in an Orthodox Jewish household, and freelancing for Los Angeles magazine. Miriam spent seven-odd years in New York conquering the media juggernaut—from New York magazine to the now defunct Condé Nast Portfolio to The Daily Beast. Her writing career first took off while she was an undergrad at Barnard College; her column, Sexplorations, grabbed national headlines. As an Angeleno, she chose to live in Los Feliz on the sole grounds that it is the only neighborhood in LA in which you can actually walk places. Find out more at miriam-datskovsky.com.

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