Biography

Growing Up
Education
Work and Career
Faith and Beliefs

Growing Up

My memories begin in the Colorado Rockies west of Denver. I was the oldest of three children. From first to sixth grade, I attended a two-room rural school. I had the same wonderful teacher for the first three years. Despite the fact that the school district was small and impoverished, my teachers were excellent. There were no libraries and very few books available. A few years ago a teacher asked my dad, "What's the secret of bringing up a child who loves reading as much as Susan does?" His answer, "Deprivation."

Our junior high school had a very small library in a closet. One seventh grade assignment was to look up the answers to a list of questions in reference books. A light went on for me that day, about the time I found the name of the sixteenth pope. The knowledge of the world could be found in books, if I just knew where to look. My desire to share that moment of illumination with children led many years later to my first book, Facts Plus.

My high school graduating class had just 25 students. An advantage of small schools is that you can be involved in many extra-curricular activities, and I was. In addition to participating in several clubs, I was editor of the school newspaper and secretary of a very active student council. Away from school, I loved horseback riding and downhill skiing, as well as traveling and camping with my family.
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Education

I was valedictorian of my small high school class and won a four-year National Merit Scholarship to the college of my choice. I chose the University of Northern Colorado because I wanted to teach. I earned a B.A. in Elementary Education with a minor emphasis in Spanish, and have since completed more than 60 hours of graduate credit.

Since college, I've been an independent learner. My goal has been to produce useful and practical resources for educators rather than to earn advanced degrees.
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Work and Career

I've had a variety of work experiences. In high school I waited tables and sold concessions at an ice skating rink for $1.25/hour. During my college years, I did secretarial work at the University of Northern Colorado Library and took temporary jobs with Manpower and Kelly Services. I helped organize the National Association of Biology Teachers national convention in my junior and senior years.

For a couple of years after college, I played guitar and sang folk music professionally.

The first year I taught, I traveled to five schools a day to help non-English speaking children learn English. Then I moved to Alaska, where I taught preschool / kindergarten for a semester, 6th grade for four and a half years, 5th grade for two years, and 4th grade for two and a half years.

I resigned in 1992 to focus on writing books and to have more time with my husband, a retired teacher.

I've spoken at state home school conventions in Alaska (APHEA), Colorado (CHEC), Minnesota (MACHE), Washington (WATCH and WHO), Indiana (IAHE), southeast Texas (SETHSA) as well as the northwest regional convention of the International Reading Association and many other smaller events.
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Faith and Beliefs

My mother is a strong Christian. My dad was not. Mom drove us 25 miles each way to a Baptist church every Sunday during my childhood. Although no one else in school was a Christian, I loved Jesus and read the Bible every day.

College was a watershed. As much as I wanted to believe the Bible was true, my faith was undermined by what I learned, and people in the church were unable or unwilling to answer my questions. Some were shocked that I would even ask questions. I was told I must pray more and have more faith, that God would bless me if I would only do what He required. So I prayed more, read the Bible more, and tried my best to have more faith. I begged forgiveness for every unconscious sin. I'm an overachiever by nature. I always try to do my best. I did everything I knew how to hold on to faith, but my commitment has always been to the truth. I could not believe the Bible was true on the basis of unreasoned faith alone.

As I struggled with disappointment and depression, I tried reaching out to Christians. That resulted in my feeling I was somehow to blame, that my struggle was caused by my sin. I was deeply hurt by what some Christians said and did at that time. I did not want to be like them.

The people I admired and enjoyed were humanists. The philosophy I was taught at college was positive and upbeat. It was appealing to think that people are good by nature, that I am good by nature, and that my problems were due in part to repressive and outdated religious ideas. It was freeing. I could breathe.

Thirteen years passed before I was ready to reconsider Christianity. I had adopted a philosophy of secular humanism, although I didn't even know the term. I wrote the poem below during that time. My mom prayed for me.

A Christian friend then invited us to a Larry Burkett class. He had gotten his family out of debt after taking that class, and I wanted the same for us. I thought Dennis would be more motivated if he knew God agreed with me!

I was not interested in attending services, but one day we met another friend who invited us in. His daughter was singing that day. The message intrigued me. The pastor said that the Bible makes sense. If it doesn't seem to make sense, it's because our understanding is incomplete.

"OK," I thought. "I'm an open-minded person. I'm willing to hear your case."

There was no pressure or I would have fled. I learned something new every week. Church became a highlight of my life, even though I wouldn't have described myself as a Christian and I did not want to socialize with anyone there. I wanted to consider Christianity apart from the people who profess it. My commitment was to truth. Truth stands on its own. It is distinct from the people who proclaim it.

I read the Bible through and wrote down every question that came to mind. I took my questions to the pastor. He gave me books, answered the questions he could, and was honest enough to say he didn't know when he didn't. He was confident that anyone honestly open to the truth would find Jesus.

My husband and I have been blessed with excellent Bible teachers in the last few years. At one time we attended three in-depth Bible studies as well as church every week. One of our teachers gave me Ken Ham's series of videos on creation. That led me to read every book I could find on evolution and creation, including Darwin's Origin of Species. I read numerous books attacking creationism, and others attacking the theory of evolution. After reviewing and weighing all the evidence I could find, I am convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that the theory of evolution I was taught cannot be true. That doesn't necessarily mean the Bible is true, of course, but it certainly leaves open the possibility. I continued to study the Bible, and am convinced it could not have been written by humans on their own.

As all this was going on, I found myself speaking to more and more groups of Christian home schoolers who invited me because they liked my books. I was meeting joyful Christians, people I admired. Everything worked together. God had a plan and my mother's prayers were answered. I reconnected with the foundation and the pieces began to come together.

Jesus is Lord! The Bible is true. I am saved by grace. Praise God!

For specific details and lists of resources, check the following links:

How Can We Know Truth?

Is Evolution True?

Is the Bible True?

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