William LeSassier (November 6, 1948 – May 13, 2003) was an American herbalist and acupuncturist. He developed William’s Triune System of Formulation, which continues to be taught by herbalists, including David Winston, who has significantly expanded LeSassier's materia medica. LeSassier taught and inspired many of the major herbalists currently practicing in the United States, including Matthew Wood, David Winston, Margi Flynt, Kerry Adams, Leslie Gardner, and Dina Falconi, and his influence is significant. His classes were taped and continue to influence herbal medicine in the United States. Biography William LeSassier was born in 1948 in Texas, and grew up in Midland. He then moved to Southern California, where he learned many fields, including theosophy, palmistry, color therapy, and herbalism. LeSassier also audited medical school at UCLA. By the age of 20 he was an active healer. In the late 1960s, LeSassier opened the Christos School of Herbal Medicine in Taos, New Mexico, where he ran a herb store. In the 1960s he wandered around the U.S., Mexico, and the Amazon, doing healing work, teaching, and collecting herbs as he went. He wrote some of the very first herb articles in Well-Being Magazine, one of the first publications on alternative medicine. Around 1970 LeSassier found a teacher of Chinese medicine and persuaded the man to allow him to apprentice with him. He learned about the energetics of medicinal herbs and developed an individualized diagnosis system. By the 1970s, he was one of the most well-known herbalists in the country. In 1983, he settled in New York City and opened Chiron’s Magic Minerals, where he practiced and taught herbs, bodywork, and energy work. William closed Chiron's in 1989 and moved his practice into the office of Dr. Steven Schram at 132 East 28th street. The back yard of the office was home to many herbs that William grew there including nettles, hops, raspberries, spilanthes, comfrey, holy basel and catnip. In 1993 he entered acupuncture school, but never graduated, being one course shy of the requirements. He continued to live in New York, and also spent time in a vacation home in the Blue Ridge Mountains which was also a school and nature preserve. He also visited Italy several times. He died in 2003 from complications of cirrhosis of the liver. Triune formulas One hallmark of most serious herbalism is the use of herbs in a formula. LeSassier had been exposed to Chinese