Susan L. Taylor facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Susan L. Taylor
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Taylor in 1998
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| Born | January 23, 1946 Harlem, New York City, U.S.
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| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Fordham University |
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Susan L. Taylor was born on January 23, 1946. She is an American editor, writer, and journalist. She was the editor-in-chief of Essence magazine from 1981 to 2000. In 1994, a magazine called American Libraries said she was "the most influential black woman in journalism today."
Contents
Early Life and Education
Susan Taylor was born in Harlem, a neighborhood in New York City. Her mother was from Trinidad and her father was from St. Kitts. She grew up in East Harlem, where her father owned a clothing store.
Susan went to a Catholic school and was raised Catholic. When she was a teenager, her family moved to Queens, another part of New York City. Later, while working, she went to night school and earned a college degree from Fordham University.
Working at Essence Magazine
Susan Taylor started working at Essence magazine in 1970. This was the same year the magazine began. Essence is a magazine created for African-American women. Her first job there was a freelance fashion and beauty editor. At that time, she was a single mother and did not have a college degree.
Rising Through the Ranks
By 1981, Susan Taylor became the editor-in-chief of Essence. She held this important job until 2000. As editor-in-chief, she helped shape the magazine's content and direction.
Expanding the Essence Brand
Besides her work as an editor, Susan Taylor also helped Essence grow in other ways. She was the executive producer and host of Essence, the Television Program. This TV show was broadcast on over 50 stations for four years in the 1980s. In the 1990s, she also started Essence Books, which published books.
Susan Taylor wrote a popular monthly column in the magazine called "In the Spirit." This column shared inspiring messages with readers. She later published three books that collected her favorite columns.
In 2000, Susan Taylor was promoted to publications director. She left Essence magazine in 2008.
Awards and Honors
Susan Taylor has received many awards for her work in journalism and publishing.
- In 1986, she received a Candace Award from the National Coalition of 100 Black Women.
- In 1987, she received the Matrix Award from New York Women in Communications.
- In 1998, the Magazine Publishers of America gave her the Henry Johnson Fisher Award. This is one of the highest honors in the magazine industry. Susan Taylor was the first African-American woman to receive this award.
- In 2002, she was added to the American Society of Magazine Editors' Hall of Fame for her contributions at Essence.
- In 2003, Exceptional Women in Publishing gave her their fifth annual Exceptional Woman in Publishing award.
- In 2006, the NAACP gave her its President's Award.
- On July 13, 2013, Susan Taylor became an honorary member of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority.
Personal Life
In 1989, Susan Taylor married writer Khephra Burns. They were married at their home in upstate New York. Susan has a daughter named Shana. Shana owns a beauty supply business and is married to Bernard King, a famous NBA player who is in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Books by Susan L. Taylor
Susan Taylor has written several books, often sharing her inspiring thoughts and wisdom.
- In the Spirit: The Inspirational Writings of Susan L. Taylor, published in 1993.
- Lessons in Living, published in 1995.
- Confirmation: The Spiritual Wisdom That Has Shaped Our Lives, published in 1997. She wrote this book with Khephra Burns.
- All About Love: Favorite Selections from "In the Spirit" on Living Fearlessly, published in 2008.
