Susan Bergman

{{Short description|American writer and literary scholar (1957–2006)}}

{{Infobox writer

| image =

| birth_name = Susan Claire Heche

| birth_date = {{birth date|1957|05|05}}

| birth_place = Bloomington, Indiana, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|2006|01|01 |1957|05|05}}

| death_place = Barrington, Illinois, U.S.

| education = BA, Art, Wheaton College (Illinois), 1979
PhD, Literature, Northwestern University, 1992
(specialization: 20th Century poetry)

| occupation = Writer

| period =

| genre = Memoir, poetry, nonfiction, essay

| subject = autobiography, religion

| movement =

| notableworks = Anonymity (1994)

| spouse = {{marriage|Judson Bergman|1979}}

| children = Elliot Bergman
Natalie Bergman

| relatives = Nancy Heche (mother)
Anne Heche (sister)

| influences =

| first =

| last =

| author-link =

| title =

| publisher =

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| isbn =

| website = {{URL|https://web.archive.org/web/20020401182352/http://susanbergman.com/|SusanBergman.com}}
(archived)

}}

Susan Bergman (née Heche; May 5, 1957{{spnd}}January 1, 2006) was an American writer and literary scholar.

Biography and works

Bergman wrote her memoir Anonymity in 1994,{{Cite news| last = Kirkus Reviews| title = Anonymity by Susan Bergman (review)| work = Kirkus Reviews| access-date = September 7, 2022| date = 1993-12-01| url = https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/susan-bergman/anonymity/}} which recounts the discovery, in 1983, of the closeted homosexuality and double life of her father, Don Heche, a Christian, choir director, and seemingly model family man, while he was dying of HIV/AIDS.{{Cite news|last = Sherlock | first = Barbara |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220813083142/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2006-01-02-0601020093-story.html |url = https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2006-01-02-0601020093-story.html |title=Chicago Tribune: Susan Bergman 1957–2006 |newspaper=Chicago Tribune|via = |date=January 2, 2006 |access-date = August 22, 2022 |url-status=dead |archive-date = August 13, 2022 }}{{Cite news| last = Kelly| first = Joyce| title = Revealing Truths| work = Chicago Tribune| access-date = August 22, 2022| date = February 5, 1994|url = https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1994-02-06-9402060526-story.html |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220818202626/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1994-02-06-9402060526-story.html |archive-date = August 18, 2022 |url-status=dead}}{{Cite episode| number = 10| credits = Glass, Ira (host)| title = Double Lives| series = This American Life| access-date = August 22, 2022| date = January 17, 1996| url = https://www.thisamericanlife.org/10/double-lives}}{{Cite news| last = Times Staff and Wire Reports| title = Susan Bergman, 48; Wrote of Her Father's Secret Life as a Gay Man| work = Los Angeles Times| access-date = August 22, 2022| date = January 4, 2006| url = https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-jan-04-me-passings4.1-story.html}} Anonymity had its beginnings as Bergman's doctoral dissertation at Northwestern University.

Bergman was the sister of actress Anne Heche, who also wrote a memoir about their father and family background, in 2001. Heche's account differed in her accusations of sexual abuse against Don Heche, as well as detailing her tensions with the rest of the Heche family, leading to a rift, including with Susan.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}

In 1996, Bergman was editor of an anthology titled Martyrs: Contemporary Writers on Modern Lives of Faith,{{Cite news| last = Kirkus Reviews| title = Martyrs: Contemporary Writers on Modern Lives of Faith, edited by Susan Bergman| work = Kirkus Reviews| access-date = September 7, 2022| date = August 1, 1996| url = https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/susan-bergman/martyrs/}} in which contemporary authors reflected on the lives of 20th Century religious and political martyrs. Bergman contributed the introductory chapter, a reflection on the nature of martyrdom and what it teaches about faith.{{Cite news| last = Staff| title = "Martyrs: Contemporary Writers on Modern Lives of Faith"| work = Publishers Weekly| access-date = August 25, 2022| date = September 9, 1996| url = https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780060611200}}{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1177/239693939902300122| issn = 0272-6122| volume = 23| issue = 1| pages = 45| last = Lapp| first = John A.| title = Book Review: "Martyrs: Contemporary Writers on Modern Lives of Faith"| journal = International Bulletin of Missionary Research| access-date = August 25, 2022| date = 1999| s2cid = 149077801| url = http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/239693939902300122| url-access = subscription}}{{Cite news| last = Bergman| first = Susan| title = Faith Unto Death, Part 1| work = Christianity Today| access-date = | date = August 12, 1996| url = https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/1996/august12/6t9018.html |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090215062207/https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/1996/august12/6t9018.html |archive-date = February 15, 2009}}
{{Cite news| last = | first = | title = Faith Unto Death, Part 2| work = Christianity Today| access-date = August 25, 2022| date = | url = https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/1996/august12/6t918b.html |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090218135151/https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/1996/august12/6t918b.html |archive-date = February 18, 2009}} (CT publication of Bergman's introductory chapter in Martyrs.)

Like most of her family, Bergman was a life-long evangelical Christian, and religious themes are a frequent subject of her writing. In 1996, Christianity Today named her in their profile of "Up and Comers: Fifty evangelical leaders 40 and under".{{Cite news| last = Christianity Today Staff| title = Up & Comers (Part 2)| work = Christianity Today| access-date = August 25, 2022| date = November 11, 1996| url = https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/1996/november11/6td20b.html}} However, she stated that she did not consider herself part of the Christian right. Quoting the words of a friend of hers, Bergman stated: "I dare to believe that when Jesus invites all who labor and are heavy-laden, he's not screening for HIV, or voting behavior, or asking whether or not someone has had a divorce, or an abortion."{{Cite episode| number = 83| credits = Bergman, Susan (writer); Glass, Ira (host) | title = One of Us. Act III: My Church Life|series = This American Life|access-date = August 25, 2022| date = November 14, 1997| url = https://www.thisamericanlife.org/83/one-of-us/act-three}} [https://www.thisamericanlife.org/83/transcript transcript]

Bergman died on January 1, 2006, in Barrington, Illinois, at the age of 48, after a three-year battle against a brain tumor.