Susan Akin

{{Infobox person

|name =

|image = Susan Akin, Miss America, gtfy.00124.jpg

|alt =

|caption = Akin, 1985

|birth_name =

|birth_date = {{Birth date and age|mf=yes|1964|8|12}}

|birth_place = Meridian, Mississippi

|death_date =

|death_place =

|body_discovered =

|death_cause =

|resting_place =

|resting_place_coordinates =

|nationality =

|citizenship =

|other_names =

|known_for =

|education =

|alma_mater =University of Mississippi

|employer =

|occupation =

|years_active =

|title = Miss University 1985
Miss Mississippi 1985
Miss America 1986

|term =

|predecessor =Sharlene Wells

|successor =Kellye Cash

|party =

|opponents =

|boards =

|spouse = {{plainlist|

{{marriage|Jetson Taylor|1990|1994|reason=divorced}}
{{marriage|Brooks Lynch|1996}}

}}

|partner =

|children = 2

|parents =

|relations =

|callsign =

|awards =

|signature =

|website =

|footnotes =

}}

Susan Akin (born August 12, 1964) is an American beauty pageant titleholder from Meridian, Mississippi who was Miss Mississippi 1985 and Miss America 1986.{{Cite web|url=http://www.missamerica.com/our-miss-americas/1980/1986.asp|title=Miss America :: History - 1986|date=2006-01-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060108205108/http://www.missamerica.com/our-miss-americas/1980/1986.asp|access-date=2019-05-17|archive-date=2006-01-08}}

Early life and education

Akin was born to Earl and Dorothy Akin on August 12, 1964. She was a member of Pi Beta Phi sorority at the University of Mississippi.{{cite web|url=http://www.olemiss.edu/orgs/piphi/aboutus.html|title=Ole Miss Pi Phi Web Site|access-date=22 January 2010}}

Pageantry

Before the Miss America 1986 pageant, computer modeling successfully predicted that Akin would be named Miss America, her odds set at 7 to 1.{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |newspaper=Wilmington Morning Star |location=Wilmington, NC |title=Professor's computer picks Miss Mississippi |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1454&dat=19850910&id=eAEzAAAAIBAJ&pg=3455,2550324&hl=en |page=1D |date=September 10, 1985 |access-date=August 19, 2015}} During her pageant years, Akin participated in over 110 pageants.{{cite web|first1=Michelle |last1=Tauber |first2=Mike |last2=Neill |first3=Lisa |last3=Russell |first4=Joanne|last4=Fowler |first5=Julie |last5=Dam |first6=Alex |last6=Tresniowski |first7=Samantha |last7=Miller |first8=Steve |last8=Dougherty |first9=Ting |last9=Yu |title= American Beauties: 80 Years |work= People |url=https://people.com/archive/american-beauties-80-years-vol-54-no-16/ |date=October 16, 2000}}

Career

File:President Ronald Reagan with Susan Akin, Sonny Montgomery, and George H. W. Bush.jpg, Sonny Montgomery, George H. W. Bush in 1985]]

Akin traveled extensively with Bob Hope, performing at conventions both in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Akin was formerly the spokesperson for the National Down's Syndrome Association, during which she spoke before state legislatures and advocacy groups.{{cite web|url=http://www.missamerica.org/our-miss-americas/1980/1986.aspx |title=Miss America : 1986 |access-date=22 January 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100206200714/http://www.missamerica.org/our-miss-americas/1980/1986.aspx |archive-date=6 February 2010 }}

In 1991, Akin appeared in a segment on Unsolved Mysteries to discuss the unexplained death of Crystal Spencer, an aspiring actress who died in the same apartment building where Akin and her husband, Jet Taylor, lived in 1988.David Ferrell, [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-02-24-mn-2042-story.html "COLUMN ONE : Murder or Natural Causes? : Four years after Crystal Spencer's death, her case remains a mystery. Following the trail leads to rumors, theories and mishandled evidence"], "Los Angeles Times", February 24, 1992.

Controversies

She is the granddaughter of Bernard L. Akin, a conspirator in the murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner of 1964.{{cite news|title=What's Past is Past|date=3 October 1985|work=Miami Herald}}{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=sikuAAAAIBAJ&dq=susan-akin%20bernard&pg=3493%2C1377803|title=Miss America's Family Once Linked to Civil Rights Slaying|date=3 October 1985|publisher=The Modesto Bee|access-date=22 January 2010}} The Meridian Star reported Akin's response to her grandfather's involvement, "That's something that doesn't involve me. I wasn't even born and can't be involved in this. And the people who have taken it out of context thinking they can drag me down, cannot and they're not."{{cite news|title=Miss America 1986 Scrapbook: Miss America Comes Home|date=18 October 1985|page=30|publisher=The Meridian Star}}

Akin openly opposed mixed marriages with the New York Press quoting her as saying, "I feel at this time intermixing could lead to more problems."{{cite news|title=Miss America 1986 Scrapbook: Miss America Says No to Mixed Marriage Idea|date=18 October 1985|page=29|publisher=The Meridian Star(New York AP)}}

Personal life

After crowning Kellye Cash as her successor, Akin moved to Los Angeles in 1987 to pursue a career in acting, but soon fell into alcoholism. In the late 1980s, Akin became addicted to opiates after being injured in a car accident. She moved back to Mississippi and soon married Jetson "Jet" Taylor and gave birth to a daughter, Alexandria, in 1992. Taylor and Akin divorced in 1994.

In 1996, Akin married Brooks Lynch. She continued to struggle with addiction, ultimately leading to a suicide attempt in 1999.

Akin and Lynch had a son, Preston Lynch, in 2001.