Author Spotlight: Sue Miller

Photo: Debi Milligan

Sue Miller is celebrating her 68th birthday today. She was born on November 29, 1943 in Chicago. At 16, Sue graduated high school and went on to study and earn a degree from Radcliffe College. She fell in love with a med student while she was there, and they were married. In 1968, their son, Ben was born. Since Sue was supporting the family while hubby was in med school, and now there was a baby to take care of, there was no time to write.

In 1970,  they were divorced, and Sue would be a single parent to Ben. She made ends meet by working in a daycare center and renting her place out for extra money.

In 1977 she became very serious about her writing. It paid off, because in 1979 she was awarded a fellowship to Boston University's creative writing program which allowed her to devote a large amount of time to writing.



In 1983, she was awarded the Bunting Fellowship through Radcliffe. Between the fellowship and a grant, Sue was able to write full time. And in 1986, when she was 43, Sue Miller's first novel, The Good Mother, was published. It became a bestseller and was made into a film in 1988.

Her second novel, Inventing the Abbotts was published in 1987 and also made into a film in 1997.

While I Was Gone, published in 1999 became Oprah's Book Club Pick in 2000.

Ms. Miller is now a professor at Smith College in Northampton, MA where she teaches creative writing. 

Novels

The Good Mother (1986)
Family Pictures (1990)
For Love (1993)
The Distinguished Guest (1995)
While I Was Gone (1999)
The World Below (2001)
Lost in the Forest (2005)
The Senator's Wife (2008)
The Lake Shore Limited (2010)

Nonfiction
The Story of My Father (2004)