Dear Heather, Jonas, and Noah,

Greg and I have been searching for a photo that Greg took of Calista at our home. We're so disappointed that we haven't found it yet.

It was before the pandemic, probably at one of our tennis parties... She was wearing an oversized bunny head, holding a "Not-A-Flamethrower" by The Boring Company. She might have been blasting a flame from it, too. 

That photo seemed to reveal a lot—her humor and uniqueness...

It's been a privilege to read about her from those who knew her better and to read her writings. Clearly, she was brilliant, quirky, kind, funny, multi-talented, beautiful, with deep thoughtfulness, curiosity, and sensitivity. I have really appreciated getting to know how she observed, felt, and cared about many things. 

Words can't describe our sadness over her passing...

I, at the very least, will continue to read and re-read her writings to continue to honor her and her life.

With much love,

Sophia

I am honored to have known Calista. She was truly a special human being, bright, kind, and inquisitive. A deep thinker. She was a wonderful friend to my daughter Amelia, and we loved having her at our home last summer after her internship at Idealab. I am so glad we were able to spend more time with her then. I am also proud to say I even converted her into a country music fan after taking her to see Kenny Chesney in concert in Vegas on our family road trip.

My heart hurts knowing the world has lost someone so extraordinary. I have been reading all the beautiful tributes here and looking through the photos, grateful to learn even more about her and the impact she had on so many.

The Lees have always felt like family to us, and my heart is with Jonas, Heather, Noah, her aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents during this incredibly difficult time. 💞

IN LOVING MEMORY OF CALISTA

It’s taken me a long emotional minute to process the loss. Calista meant the world to me, and the news of her passing was absolutely crushing. My wife, Stasia, and I met Heather and Jonas after they moved into our building in the Arts District in Los Angeles. We run a talent agency on the first floor and tend to end our days on the communal stoop with a glass of wine — hard to miss us. With our modern family of five kids, ages 20–26, we were thrilled to meet the Lees and quickly became friends… and far more than that.

When Calista was a junior in high school, Jonas asked if she could intern at our agency before her senior year. She spent the summer working in our commercial and literary departments, and she was classic Calista — always delivering, always questioning, always searching for ways to improve the offering. At the end of the internship, she asked if she could show our team an AI script-coverage app she had developed. Of course!, bring it on! Her presentation was at least two years ahead of every other coverage tool out there — truly remarkable. I encouraged her to launch her app as a venture, but she wasn’t interested.

The following summer, I brought her back to assist on several film and TV projects I was developing. With her AI instincts and sharpness, she helped me build a flushed out TV series bible — normally a months-long process of 40–60 pages. It took her three days to generate the foundation (and another month with me polishing), but it was extraordinary. I sent it to a top literary agent in LA who replied, “I wish my clients delivered TV series bibles this good.” Her vision and fortitude were beyond her years. Everything about her future felt bright, immediate, and within reach of those searching to push the limits.

Jonas used to say that Calista was intimidated by me. Fair — I can be demanding and direct but my intentions are always about growth. Her instincts to push back were slowly coming out, and I encouraged that. Then something shifted by the end of the internship; suddenly she was completely at ease being unapologetically herself, filled with moxie. As our families grew closer, she knew she had an ally in me. She’d drop by the stoop or stop into the agency to talk — about school, boys, ambitions, and how the 70s, 80s, and 90s records I gave her had become the hearth of her dorm room. As a dad with my own kids, I never hesitated to offer advice (sometimes counter to her parents’), but I always knew she’d find her own way.

When Jonas shared the devastating news, I couldn’t begin to fathom the depths of pain Heather, Jonas, and Noah were facing. I cried every day for a week. The thought of not being part of her unfolding, unknown future life — of not witnessing this remarkable young woman claim her future — was too hard to comprehend.

I cannot express my adoration for Calista in a way that fully captures the depth of her gifts, her spirit, and her impact on everyone she touched. She will be missed beyond measure.