Bergman, Susan 1957–2006

OBITUARY NOTICE—See index for CA sketch: Born 1957, in Bloomington, IN; died of brain cancer, January 1, 2006, in Barrington, IL. Author. Bergman was best known for her 1994 book, Anonymity: The Secret Life of an American Family. She was a 1979 graduate of Wheaton College, where she earned a degree in art, and in 1992 she completed a Ph.D. in literature at Northwestern University. Working variously as a teacher and lecturer at such universities as the University of Notre Dame, New York University, and Northwestern, she also earned a living as a contributing editor to journals, such as the North American Review. Having been raised in a seemingly normal and stable household, Bergman discovered in 1983 that her father had contracted AIDS after leading a secret life as a homosexual. This shocking revelation led to much soul-searching, as well as the publication of Anonymity. Interestingly, her sister, actress Anne Heche, also had a lesbian affair with comedian and television host Ellen DeGeneres. Bergman would go on to edit Martyrs: Contemporary Writers on Modern Lives of Faith (1996), and in 2000 she cofounded the Web site PreviewPort, an electronic resource for writers and readers. She continued to write after learning she had cancer, to which she eventually would succumb. Her last book, the novel Buried Life, is scheduled to be published posthumously.

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Chicago Tribune, January 2, 2006, Section 1, p. 11.

Los Angeles Times, January 4, 2006, p. B8.