Susan Orlean
The New Yorker
New York, NY, United States
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Past articles by Susan:
The Photographer of the Black Is Beautiful Movement
Susan Orlean on the photographer Kwame Brathwaite, who was instrumental in the Black Is Beautiful movement and co-founded the Grandassa group of fashion models. → Read More
A Long Life as a Disney Animator
For nearly seventy years, Burny Mattinson drew many of the studio’s best-loved characters. → Read More
Blanche the Unusually Friendly Swan
She reigned at San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts, but life wasn’t always easy. → Read More
The Fort Wayne Daisies’ Star Pitcher
Susan Orlean on Maxine (Mousie) Kline Randall, a star pitcher for the Fort Wayne Daisies, who were part of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. → Read More
The Deer Who Lived Upstairs
Susan Orlean remembers Dillie (2004-2022), a nearly blind white-tailed deer in Ohio who was adopted by the veterinarian Melanie Butera and, thanks to a series of videos and Facebook posts, acquired numerous fans among social-media users. → Read More
A Man Who Loved Rattlesnakes
Susan Orlean on Eugene DeLeon, a rattlesnake handler who was fascinated by snakes and passed away after being bitten by one at the annual Rattlesnake Roundup, in Freer, Texas. → Read More
The Tap-Dancing TV Chef
LaDeva Davis was a major presence on Philadelphia’s dance scene—and dancing was just one of her talents. → Read More
The Gospel According to Brother Jed
Susan Orlean writes a postscript for George Smock, Jr.—or Brother Jed, as he was more commonly known—a travelling campus minister whose dramatic preaching style often garnered crowds of people wanting to either protest his messages or see a spectacle. → Read More
The Man Who Would Be a Machine
Susan Orlean writes an obituary for Peter Scott-Morgan, a British scientist who had A.L.S. and hoped to turn himself into a human cyborg, as part of her Afterword column. → Read More
Ivana Trump Was Always the Boss of Her
Susan Orlean writes about Ivana Trump, the first wife of Donald Trump, who was known for her beehive hairdo and peppery personality and who recently passed away. → Read More
An Old Dog That Found a New Best Friend
Steve Greig shares his Colorado home with lovable last-chance creatures. → Read More
The Extremely Large Life of a Suntan-Lotion Mogul
Curiously, Ron Rice was not a tan man, but, with Hawaiian Tropic, he became the king of tan. → Read More
Putting on Puppet Shows with an Edge
Discovering puppeteering changed Margo Lovelace—and the art scene in Pittsburgh. → Read More
A Country Star from the First Nations
Susan Orlean writes about the country-music star Shane Yellowbird, a member of the Maskwacis Cree Nation, in Canada; Yellowbird, who died this year, overcame a childhood stutter through singing. → Read More
The Hard-Won Triumphs of a Life on the Corner in West Baltimore
Susan Orlean writes about Denise Francine (Fran) Boyd Andrews, who rose from the streets of West Baltimore to conquer a heroin addiction and become an outreach counsellor helping others to kick their own chemical dependencies. → Read More
A Chef Who Offered Chinese Food in Spanish
Susan Orlean writes about the pioneering chef Lupe Liang, who died this year, and whose restaurant Hop Woo, in L.A.’s Chinatown, has a trilingual menu and is a neighborhood favorite. → Read More
A Tavern Owner Who Became the Quintessential Mayor of Portland
Susan Orlean commemorates John Elwood (Bud) Clark, a Portland, Oregon, bar owner who served two terms as the mayor of the city, and once posed in a photograph that became a famous poster. → Read More
The Hollywood Madam Who Just Wanted to Sing
The multifarious career of Jody Gibson, a.k.a. Babydol. → Read More
The Ultimate Tiger Mom
Susan Orlean writes about the death of the tiger Collarwali, who lived in an Indian preserve and gave birth to an extraordinary number of cubs, a boon to her threatened species. → Read More
Tearing Down the House
Susan Orlean writes about George Washington Varn II, a Jacksonville, Florida, resident who died in 2021, and whose will stipulated that his beloved mid-century house—designed by the innovative architect Taylor Hardwick—be torn down upon his death. → Read More