Jean P. Sasson (born 1947, Troy, Alabama; "Sasson" is Hebrew for "happiness"), is an American writer whose work mainly centers around women in the Middle East and the injustices that they suffer at the hands of a patriarchal society.

Born into a small town life, Sasson found adventure between the pages of books. Her strong desire to uproot herself from her rural surroundings led her to jump at the opportunity to work and travel abroad. In 1978 she traveled to Saudi Arabia to work in the King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Riyadh as an administrative coordinator in Medical Affairs. It was there that she met Peter Sasson, her future husband. They married in 1982 and Sasson left the hospital after four years of service, but the couple remained in Saudi Arabia until 1990.

During their time in the Middle East, the Sassons made many friends, including members the royal Al-Saud family, who visited the hospital. The most notable of these friendships was between Sasson and Princess Sultana, the princess about whom The Princess Trilogy surrounds.

Najwa bin Laden (born c. 1959), née Ghanem, is a Syrian woman who was the first wife and first cousin of Osama bin Laden. Her father is the brother of Osama's mother, Hamida al-Attas (born Alia Ghanem). Najwa was "promised" in marriage to Osama. She is the mother of Saad bin Laden, as well as at least 10 more children. She co-authored Growing Up bin Laden with her son Omar.

Omar bin Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (Arabic: عمر بن أسامة بن محمد بن عوض بن لادن‎, ʿUmar bin ʾUsāmah bin Muḥammad bin ʿAwaḍ bin Lādin; born 1981), better known as Omar bin Laden, is one of the sons of Osama bin Laden and his first wife and first cousin Najwa Ghanem (see Bin Laden family). He is the 4th eldest son among twenty children of Osama bin Laden. Older reports have described him and his brother Abdullah bin Laden as nephews or cousins of Osama bin Laden.

Bin Laden was born the grandson of Muhammed bin Awad bin Laden, the founder of one of the wealthiest non-royal families in Saudi Arabia, and the son of Osama bin Laden, whose partisan activities shaped his childhood. Bin Laden accompanied his father on his exile to Sudan from 1991 to 1996, and then to Afghanistan after that. He has said that he trained in al-Qaeda camps beginning at the age of 14, but after training with al-Qaeda for 6 years and sharing a house with al-Qaeda's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri, he left al-Qaeda in 2000 because he didn't want to be associated with killing civilians and his father Osama didn't object.

Melissa Lee (Korean: 이지연) (born circa 1966) is a New Zealand politician. She was elected to the House of Representatives as a list MP for the National Party in the 2008 election. She is currently Parliamentary Private Secretary for Ethnic Affairs under Judith Collins.

Lee was born in South Korea and grew up in Malaysia before moving to Australia and then to New Zealand in 1988 with her family. She has a MA Hons (First Class) in Communication Studies. She spent twenty three years in journalism including a five-year stint at the Sunday News and writing for numerous publications including the New Zealand Herald and The Listener. She was also the producer of the TV magazine series, Asia Downunder.

In November 2008, Lee became a list MP in the New Zealand parliament. Her maiden speech included sections in English, Māori, and Korean. In English, she mentioned crime, education, and anti-Asian racism issues in New Zealand. In the Māori section, she mentioned the history of Māori first coming to New Zealand by canoe from Hawaiki and compared it to her own migration to New Zealand by aeroplane. Near the end of her speech, she thanked, in Korean, all the people that had given her support "simply by virtue of [their] shared heritage."

Sacha Distel (29 January 1933 – 22 July 2004) was a French singer and guitarist who had hits with a cover version of the Academy Award-winning "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head" (originally recorded by B. J. Thomas), "Scoubidou", and "The Good Life". He was born in Paris.

Sacha Distel, born Alexandre Distel, was a son of Russian White émigré Leonid Distel. Sacha's uncle, Ray Ventura, was a prominent jazz promoter. In the 1930s Ventura promoted and participated in the development of swing in France. When his uncle settled in Paris with his orchestra, “Les Collégiens”, Distel gave up his piano for the guitar.

In 1948, Ventura invited Distel to listen to Dizzy Gillespie perform with his orchestra, along with Bruno Coquatrix, Paul Misraki and André Hornez. Distel's efforts led to the orchestra's split, which gave birth to two rival bands: Guy Wormser's New Orleans die-hards and the cool jazz and bebop aficionados led by Distel. After meeting Hubert Damisch, a saxophone player, Sacha founded the band that would allow him to be up with the leaders. With help from Jean Marie Ingrand (bass), Mimi Perrin (piano) and Jean Louis Viale (drums), the band won the Coliseum's Night of Jazz “Meilleur Petit Orchestre Moderne” award, with Damisch and Distel winning prizes as musicians on the same night. Distel became a professional jazz guitarist. Over his career he worked alongside Dizzy Gillespie and Tony Bennett and appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in the late 1950s after establishing himself as a French crooner.