Susan E. Schiefelbein :::
Susan L. Schiefelbein
Graduated in 1968
Inducted in 1999
After graduating from LTHS in 1968, Susan Schiefelbein went on to the University of Illinois and graduated cumlaude with a bachelor's degree in Journalism and French. Her 25-year career as a writer and author has earned her scores of awards and accolades. She began her career as one of just 20 college students nationwide to win the American Association of Magazine Editor's competition for apprenticeship at a magazine. In 1972, she joined The Saturday Review and rose through the ranks from assistant copy-editor to senior editor. Her Saturday Review cover story, "Children and Cancer," earned her the U.S. National Magazine Award and is the only issue to sell out on newsstands and go into a second printing. Her writings also earned her the Front Page Award and the American Association of University Women Award. Her research and writing prowess aided her as the personal editor of Saturday Review's owner, the essayist/humanitarian/diplomat, Norman Cousins. She served as researcher and editor for his best selling Anatomy of an Illness, for which Cousins also invited her to co-write a chapter. She organized and co-authored the National Geographic Society's book project on the human body, The Incredible Machine. From 1975-1977, she collaborated with Jacques-Yves Cousteau on monthly essays and later co-authored a book with Cousteau about global political and environmental issues that topped France's best-seller list. Two of the films for which she wrote the narrations, "Journey to a Thousand Rivers" and "The Enchanted River," earned the George Foster Peabody Award, an ACE Award and a network Emmy nomination. "The Warm Blooded Sea" won first prize at the Film Festival of Italy. She is currently researching a book about the history of Paris and another concerning scientific progress on the phenomenon of attitude's effects on health.