Leslie Fish obit

Filk Legend Leslie Fish Has Died

 She was not on the list.

Leslie Fish, regarded by many as the Queen of Filk, has died at the age of 72. She was a composer, a performer, an author, and a political activist. She wrote dozens, if not hundreds of songs on a multitude of subjects. She was a true bard.

Her husband, “Rasty” Ralston announced Saturday, November 29, 2025, that she was in home hospice care. Her stepdaughter, Mary Coppin, broke the sad news a few hours later that Leslie Fish that had died.

Fish chronicled the history of the space program in her songs” Hope Eyrie, about Apollo 11, Surprise!” about Sputnik, and too many others to count. She wrote songs about science fact and science fiction. Her “Everyman” and “Toast to Unknown Heroes” saluted the rngineers, technicians, and mathematicians who made the astronauts’ voyages possible, but never got tickertape parades.

Earlier today, friend Aya Katz posted this message on Facebook:

Leslie is now on home hospice. She can no longer speak or communicate, but she is resting at home surrounded by love. Rasty asked me to pass the word to the filk family and all her fans: please send her good energy, your thought, prayers, songs, memories or just a moment of silence. She has always drawn strength from this wonderful, wild community, and she still can.

If you’d like to share a memory, a lyric, or just a “soar high, Bard” drop it here or anywhere it will reach other fans. We’ll make sure she and Rasty know the bardic circle is singing for her! Eli Goldberg. edit: We have just gotten word that Leslie has passed. May her spirit soar with the eagles!

B.B. King had Lucille, Arthur had Excalibur. and Leslie Fish had Monster. Monster is a twelve-string guitar which produced the most wonderful music, much of which has helped shape the landscape of modern science fition fandom.

While her politics were a point of contention, none can deny the impact she and her music have had.

She is survived by her husband Ralston, and her stepdaughter Mary Coppin.

We offer our condolences to them and her friends.

Fish sang (and made several appearances) in the film Finding the Future: A Science Fiction Conversation, which makes extensive use of her music. She was interviewed and performed in Trekkies 2.

Along with The Dehorn Crew, Fish created the first commercial filk recording in 1976, Folk Songs for Folk Who Ain't Even Been Yet. Her second recording, Solar Sailors (1977), included the song "Banned from Argo", a comic song parodying Star Trek which has since spawned over 100 variants and parodies. She recorded the comic song "Carmen Miranda's Ghost", which was the source for the short story anthology Carmen Miranda's Ghost Is Haunting Space Station Three, edited by Don Sakers (in which she has one story and the notes on the song). Her song "Hope Eyrie" is regarded by some as being as close to the anthem of American science fiction fandom as is possible in such a disparate group.

Fish often wove pagan and anarchist themes into her music. She had also set to music many poems by Rudyard Kipling. She was a popular guest at science fiction conventions, and she could often be seen at the large filksings with her distinctive 12-string guitar, "Monster", which Leslie said played best when it was given good Scotch whisky.