Syrie James

Syrie Ann Astrahan was born in Poughkeepsie, New York, to Joann (Schwartz) and Morton Astrahan. Her name is pronounced "seer-ee" and was inspired by a character in a radio show that her mother listened to as a little girl. Her father was a leader in computer science, working as a research engineer in Northwestern University's Microwave Lab and then for IBM. Her brother is Melvin Alan Astrahan. She moved west at age one because her father didn't like shoveling snow. …