Susan Straight

  • My backroad memorial

    My favorite memories of my brother are of him in the driver's seat, tearing down dirt roads. So on nights when I miss him more than I can bear, I just turn up the radio, roll down the windows, and speed.
    By Susan Straight April 9, 2007

  • Flooded and forgotten

    Louisiana is still devastated, and its people -- black and white, rich and poor -- feel like the rest of the country doesn't care.
    By Susan Straight July 1, 2006

  • Flesh and blood

    On Memorial Day and other holidays my extended family gathers to tell stories and to consume large quantities of meat. The bounty reminds us of suffering, and hunger, and the long roads that led from Oklahoma and Florida to here.
    By Susan Straight May 29, 2006

  • "A Million Nightingales"

    In an excerpt from Susan Straight's new novel, a mixed-race slave girl tries to outwit her captors.
    By Susan Straight March 18, 2006

  • Coach

    Afraid he'd blow it, my ex-husband didn't want to coach our daughter. He changed his mind -- and we all won.
    By Susan Straight December 7, 2005

  • When Michael Jackson was cool

    Michael was the ultimate heartthrob to my '70s high school girlfriends. But my teenage daughter sees him as only a scary freak who can't stand living with skin the color of hers.
    By Susan Straight June 7, 2004

  • Dissed by "The O.C."

    Fox's popular new teen drama wants to put me -- and everyone else in my town -- in the white trash bin.
    By Susan Straight September 9, 2003

  • Pack of four

    My daughters and I seem impenetrable to outsiders. Maybe that's why I haven't had a date in five years.
    By Susan Straight February 13, 2003

  • Flour power

    The authorities have decided that hauling around sacks of flour will teach middle schoolers not to get pregnant. My daughter and I think it's a half-baked idea.
    By Susan Straight June 25, 2002

  • All about basketball

    My girls live and breathe hoops with a passion that carries us beyond the season into moments of frightening uncertainty.
    By Susan Straight June 6, 2002

  • Tourmaline

    If she slept in the heat long enough, maybe she could melt away the baby. If there was a baby.
    By Susan Straight August 9, 2001

  • Detachment parenting

    My mother let us ride without seat belts. I let my daughter play with sharp tools. I am such a mess as a mother.
    By Susan Straight March 13, 2001

  • Just say yes

    Even Nancy Reagan digs this dessert.
    By Susan Straight August 29, 2000

  • Way past cool

    Wine cake is my take on motherhood and life.
    By Susan Straight August 29, 2000

  • Letters to the editor

    Readers clash over McCain's use of "gook" Plus: Splitting up siblings heartbreakingly common; the thrill of playing God with a Sim family.
    Letters to the editor February 19, 2000

  • Letters to the Editor

    Loose guns and small kids are a bad combination; the "Woodstock 99" review is an excuse for Hornsby-bashing; is "Militia U." about educational liberty or military aid?
    Letters to the Editor October 28, 1999

  • Funk soul mother

    Once my ex-husband and I danced to the funk as if we had no choice. Now, in the kitchen on Saturday nights, I clean, listen, dance, remember.
    By Susan Straight April 7, 1999

  • The Gettin' Place

    A. Scott Cardwell reviews Susan Straight's fourth novel "The Gettin' Place".
    By A. Scott Cardwell June 27, 1996
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