Susan L. Taylor
{{Short description|American editor, writer, and journalist (born 1946)}}
{{For|the American biochemist|Susan S. Taylor}}
{{Infobox person
| name =
| image = Susan Taylor 1998.jpg
| caption = Taylor in 1998
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1946|01|23}}
| birth_place = Harlem, New York City, U.S.
| nationality = American
| alma_mater = Fordham University
| occupation = {{flatlist|*Editor
- journalist}}
| years_active =
}}
Susan L. Taylor (born January 23, 1946) is an American editor, writer, and journalist. She served as editor-in-chief of Essence from 1981 through 2000.{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/28/business/media/28mag.html |title=Essence Editor Is Leaving Magazine |last=Arango |first=Tim |date=December 28, 2007 |work=The New York Times |accessdate=June 7, 2016 }} In 1994, American Libraries referred to Taylor as "the most influential black woman in journalism today".
Early life
Taylor was born in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City to a Trinidadian mother and a father from St. Kitts.{{cite magazine |title=Journeying into the Light |last=Taylor |first=Susan L. |date=April 1992 |magazine=Essence |id = {{ProQuest|223175138}}}} She grew up in East Harlem, where her father owned a clothing store. She was raised Catholic and went to a Catholic school.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2022-02-18 |title=Susan Taylor - Celebrating Black History Month |url=https://readelysian.com/celebrating-black-history-month-susan-taylor/ |access-date=2022-07-03 |website=ELYSIAN Magazine |language=en-US}} As a teenager, she moved with her family to the New York borough of Queens.{{cite web |url=http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2010/04/clarification_susan_l_taylor_talks_back_to_the_root/ |title=Susan L. Taylor Talks Back to The Root |last=Taylor |first=Susan L. |date=April 19, 2010 |work=The Root |accessdate=June 7, 2016 }}
''Essence''
Taylor started her career at Essence, a magazine for African-American women, in 1970, the year the magazine was founded. Her first position at the magazine was freelance fashion and beauty editor. At the time, she was a divorced single mother without a college degree.{{cite news |title=Black Publishing's Inspirational Godmother |last=McHenry |first=Susan |date=November–December 2004 |work=Black Issues Book Review |id = {{ProQuest|217755161}}}}
By 1981, Taylor had risen to become editor-in-chief, a position she held until 2000. During the 1980s, she attended night school and earned a B.A. from Fordham University.
In addition to her editing responsibilities, Taylor had success building the Essence brand. She was executive producer and host of Essence, the Television Program, a syndicated interview program broadcast on more than 50 stations for four years during the 1980s. In the 1990s, she began Essence Books.
Taylor's monthly inspirational column, "In the Spirit", became a popular feature of the magazine. She published three volumes of selected columns.
In 2000, Taylor was promoted to publications director. She left the magazine in 2008.
Several news outlets have published stories regarding trans model Tracey Norman, in which it is said that Taylor played a direct role in her exile from the industry after her transness was discovered.{{Cite news |url=https://www.thecut.com/2015/12/tracey-africa-transgender-model-c-v-r.html |work=The Cut |title=The First Black Trans Model Had Her Face on a Box of Clairol|first=Jada |last=Yuan |author2=Aaron Wong|date=December 14, 2015}}{{Cite news |work=HuffPost |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/tracey-norman-clairol_n_57b481d3e4b0edfa80da8f29/amp |title=Here's What We Can Learn From Tracey 'Africa' Norman's Triumphant Return To Modeling|first=Jamie |last=Feldman|date=August 17, 2016}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/aug/21/tracey-norman-black-trans-model-face-of-clairol |work=The Guardian |title=How Tracey Norman, America's first black trans model, returned to the limelight|first=Hermione |last=Hoby |date=August 21, 2016}} Taylor has vociferously denied these accusations, and has said that she had always suspected Norman was trans.{{Cite news |url=https://www.thecut.com/2015/12/susan-taylor-tracey-africa.html |work=The Cut |title=Susan Taylor Says She Wouldn't Have Outed Tracey Africa|first=Jada |last=Yuan|date=December 27, 2015}}
Awards
In 1986, Taylor received a Candace Award from the National Coalition of 100 Black Women.{{cite web |website=National Coalition of 100 Black Women |title=CANDACE AWARD RECIPIENTS 1982-1990, Page 3 |url=http://www.ncbw.org/programs/award3.html |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20030314213306/http://www.ncbw.org/programs/award3.html |archivedate=March 14, 2003 }}
In 1987, she received the Matrix Award from New York Women in Communications.{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/02/17/business/advertising-women-s-group-names-matrix-award-winners.html |title=Women's Group Names Matrix Award Winners |last=Dougherty |first=Philip H. |date=February 17, 1987 |work=The New York Times |accessdate=June 7, 2016 }}{{cite web |url=http://www.nywici.org/matrix/matrix-hall-fame |title=Matrix Awards Hall of Fame |publisher=New York Women in Communications |accessdate=June 7, 2016 }}
The Magazine Publishers of America gave Taylor its Henry Johnson Fisher Award, considered one of the industry's highest honors, in 1998. She was the first African-American woman to receive the award.{{cite web |url=http://www.magazine.org/events/awards/lifetime_achievement_awards/2813.aspx |title=Henry Johnson Fisher Award Recipients |publisher=MPA – The Association of Magazine Media |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120803113727/http://magazine.org/EVENTS/awards/lifetime_achievement_awards/2813.aspx |archivedate=August 3, 2012 |accessdate=June 7, 2016 }}
In 2002, Taylor was inducted into the American Society of Magazine Editors' Hall of Fame for her work at Essence.{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/02/business/the-media-business-advertising-magazine-award-winners-if-not-profit-champions.html |title=Magazine Award Winners, if Not Profit Champions |last=Carr |first=David |date=May 2, 2002 |work=The New York Times |accessdate=June 7, 2016 }}{{cite web |url=http://www.magazine.org/asme/national-magazine-awards/magazine-editors-hall-fame |title=Magazine Editors' Hall of Fame |publisher=American Society of Magazine Editors |accessdate=June 7, 2016 }}
Exceptional Women in Publishing presented Taylor its fifth annual Exceptional Woman in Publishing award in 2003.{{cite web |url=http://www.ewip.org/awards/ewip-recipients/ |title=Exceptional Woman in Publishing Award |publisher=Exceptional Women in Publishing |accessdate=June 7, 2016 }}
In 2006, the NAACP gave Taylor its President's Award.{{cite web |url=http://www.naacpimageawards.net/37thImageAwards/nominees.html |title=The 37th NAACP Image Awards Winners |publisher=NAACP |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111124111635/http://www.naacpimageawards.net/37thImageAwards/nominees.html |archivedate=November 24, 2011 |accessdate=June 7, 2016 }}
Taylor is an honorary member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority; she was inducted on July 13, 2013.{{cite web |url=http://www.phillytrib.com/lifestyle/out-and-about/delta-sigma-theta-centennial-celebration-convention/article_c125b30e-eaee-555b-9873-1882c654cf5b.html |title=Delta Sigma Theta Centennial Celebration, Convention |last=Clifford |first=Patricia |date=August 6, 2013 |work=Philadelphia Tribune |accessdate=June 7, 2016 }}
Personal life
In 1989, Taylor married writer Khephra Burns at their home in upstate New York.{{cite web |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NJsDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA31 |title=Society World |date=October 16, 1989 |work=Jet |accessdate=August 19, 2016 |publisher=Johnson Publishing Company }} Taylor's daughter, Shana, owns a beauty supply business and is married to NBA Hall of Fame inductee Bernard King.
Published works
- In the Spirit: The Inspirational Writings of Susan L. Taylor, 1993.
- Lessons in Living, 1995.
- Confirmation: The Spiritual Wisdom That Has Shaped Our Lives, 1997. Co-authored with Khephra Burns.
- All About Love: Favorite Selections from "In the Spirit" on Living Fearlessly, 2008.
References
{{reflist|30em}}
External links
- {{C-SPAN|16484}}
- [https://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip_529-086348hj46 Interview with Susan L. Taylor] on KUT's In Black America radio series, October 1, 1989, at the American Archive of Public Broadcasting
{{NAACP Image Award – President's Award}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Susan L.}}
Category:American people of Saint Kitts and Nevis descent
Category:American people of Trinidad and Tobago descent
Category:African-American journalists
Category:African-American non-fiction writers
Category:American non-fiction writers
Category:American magazine editors
Category:American women magazine editors
Category:American self-help writers
Category:American spiritual writers
Category:Fordham University alumni
Category:Writers from Manhattan
Category:21st-century African-American writers