Biography of Susan Newhof, author of Spirits and Wine
Susan Newhof lives with her husband and high school pal, Paul Collins, in a big old
house in Montague, Michigan, which was the inspiration for her book, Spirits and Wine.
She was born and raised in Grand Rapids and remembers writing poems and stories as
soon as she could read. After 21 years sampling various college majors, she graduated
from Michigan State University with a bachelor’s degree in English and moved to
Washington, DC to work as a national press officer for the American Red Cross.
Love and the lakes drew her back to Michigan in the mid1990s, where she works as a
communication consultant and writer and enjoys the pleasures of life in a small town. She
loves tapping the maple trees surrounding her home and making maple syrup, gardening,
Moroccan food and sharing meals with friends. She also loves chicken chores and her
eight beautiful hens about whom she is writing a book.
Susan’s concern for animal welfare issues moved her to become a vegetarian several
years ago. She and Paul volunteer to help rescue and find homes for cats and dogs and
have managed to keep their beloved menagerie to just two of each.
Susan is compiling the fifth edition of her guidebook, Michigan’s Town and Country
Inns, published by the University of Michigan Press. Spirits and Wine is her first novel.