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Susan Bergman

Born: 1957 in Bloomington, Indiana
Died: January 1, 2006 in Barrington, Illinois of Brain Cancer

Pen Name: None

Connection to Illinois: N/A

Biography: Susan was the sister of actress Anne Heche. Susan held a Ph.D. in literature from Northwestern University, with a specialization in twentieth century poetry. She had taught and lectured in literature and writing in a variety of settings, including Northwestern University, University of Chicago, New York University, and Notre Dame University.


Awards:

Susan Bergman on WorldCat : http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=susan+bergman


Selected Titles

  Anonymity
ISBN: 1589100506 OCLC: 54523974

PreviewPort Editions, Chicago, IL : 2000.

When Don Heche died of AIDS in 1983 at the age of 45, one of the earliest casualties of the epidemic, he left behind a family stunned not only by his loss but by the revelation that for years he had led a secret homosexual life. Determined to reexamine the family's self-image in the light of this new awareness, writer Susan Bergman sought out her father's friends and companions and delved back into family history, looking for the telltale fault lines in what had seemed an all-American story. Author Ron Hansen called her wise, passionate, beautifully written book 'the finest portrayal of fear and hiddenness in families that I have ever read.'

Anonymity /
ISBN: 0374254079 OCLC: 28634447

Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York : 1994.

Don Heche died of AIDS in 1983 at the age of forty-five, one of the earliest casualties of the disease. But he was not the only victim of his illness: he left behind a wife and four children. How her family dealt with their predicament - not only the loss of husband and father but the overwhelming knowledge of his secret homosexual life - is the subject of Susan Bergman's powerful memoir. Bergman's narration weaves back and forth through time as she juxtaposes childhood.

 

 

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