Susan J. Gordon

Susan J. Gordon writes personal essays about the Holocaust and genealogy; humorous and personal essays about marriage, family life, parenting, seasonal and national holidays; and service and travel articles. Her work has appeared in many nationally known magazines and newspapers. Some pieces have been reprinted in Reader's Digest, The Quiet Center (Hearst, 1997), and Chicken Soup for the Father's Soul (2000).

Susan's just-completed work is BECAUSE OF EVA: How I Found my Deadbeat Dad; the Woman who Buried my Grandfather; and Why my Mother Rode to California in the Sidecar of a Harley, a memoir which describes her Jewish journey through her own personal heart of darkness, and tells how what began as a seemingly simple search for the woman who buried Susan's grandfather inspired her to track down family members, and fly to Budapest and Ukraine to visit ancestral homes where relatives lived and died during World War II and the Holocaust.

BECAUSE OF EVA combines World War II and Holocaust history with online as well as old-fashioned family tree research and issues of divorce including the breakdown of family ties.

Here's what Arthur Kurzweil, well-known genealogist and author of books about Jewish genealogy and history, says about BECAUSE OF EVA:

"Most family histories are treasures for those who find their ancestors.... But... every once in a while, another sort of book emerges... a book that is both the story of one family and Every Family; a book that is written with artistry and with the talents of a gifted storyteller; a book that is truly a reflection of the unfolding of Jewish experience, of human experience. In BECAUSE OF EVA, all is seen though the eyes and experience of one driven writer and researcher -- Susan J. Gordon -- who understands the profound secrets of family history research and who is able to show that genealogy is not merely names and dates ... but is the foundation of history and human experience itself.

"BECAUSE OF EVA is a profoundly moving story. And it is also a story within a story. And even a story within a story within a story. But Gordon knows that this is the nature of life itself, and she captures it with her superb prose. She also knows how to use language to approach the indescribable, and the window she offers her readers is very real, often painful, and also amazingly generous.

"BECAUSE OF EVA is a book of inspiration, and deep emotional knowing. It is a Jewish celebration and a universally human book."
-- ARTHUR KURZWEIL --

Susan also is the author of WEDDING DAYS: When and How Great Marriages Began (William Morrow, 1998.) She talks about the fun and joy of writing WEDDING DAYS in the May/​June 2009 issue of Victoria magazine.

She has spoken about romance and great marriages on television and radio shows, as well as to business groups, women's clubs, bridal shows, and libraries across the United States. She also lectures on writing essays that sell.

She has a B.A. in American Studies from Queens College (CUNY), and an M.A. in American Studies from New York University. She is a member of the Authors Guild, the American Society of Journalists & Authors, and the American Jewish Press Association.