Background
Suzie Gilbert was born on October 26, 1956, in Glen Cove, New York, United States. She is the daughter of Francis B. Gilbert, Jr., an investment counselor, and Sandra (Still) Gilbert.
116th St & Broadway, New York, NY 10027, United States
Gilbert graduated from Columbia University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1983.
Suzie Gilbert was born on October 26, 1956, in Glen Cove, New York, United States. She is the daughter of Francis B. Gilbert, Jr., an investment counselor, and Sandra (Still) Gilbert.
Gilbert graduated from Columbia University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1983.
At the beginning of her career, Gilbert worked for a travel agency in Florida, with a photographer in California and Hong Kong, waitressed and painted boats in St. Croix, galloped racehorses on Long Island, raised free-range chickens and turkeys in Maine, and trained dogs, sold Ferraris, and worked for the National Hockey League in New York City.
Gilbert is a writer of the popular book for children Hawk Hill in 1996. She is also the author of an environmental column, under the pseudonym Elizabeth T. Vulture, for Taconic Media, Incorporated, as well as the author of screenplays. In 2009, she published one more book titled Flyaway: How A Wild Bird Rehabber Sought Adventure and Found Her Wings. In the book, Gilbert tells the rollicking story of how she turned her family life upside down to pursue her unusual passion for rehabilitating wild birds.
Quotations:
"I write our raptor center’s newsletter, and Hawk Hill grew out of a paragraph I wrote about one of our injured hawks. I had never written anything for children before, but I know that, during certain stages of their lives, some kids can have a special bond with an animal that they can’t have with another person. They know that animals have a lot to tell them, and they instinctively know how to listen."
“I hope my book, and any future children’s books I write, will encourage an appreciation of nature and the wild world. I have been taking birds from the raptor center to my book signings for Hawk Hill and it is incredible to see the look of awe on children’s faces the first time they see a bird of prey at close range. It gives me hope for the future of wildlife."
"Here’s my advice to aspiring writers: if you really believe in your work, don’t give up. Hawk Hill was rejected by fifty-two publishers. Several said, ‘It’s too long. If you cut it down to standard picture book length, we’ll take it.’ Of course, cutting it down would have destroyed the story. One publisher said, ‘Obviously this woman knows nothing about writing a children’s book.’ This was true, but it didn’t stop me. My other advice is: find someone else who believes in your work, and lean on them for support. I would never have survived the process (from writing to publication took five years) if my husband hadn't kept repeating, ‘Something that good has to be published.'"
Gilbert married John Horgan on June 3, 1989. The marriage produced two children - Mac and Skye. The family now lives in New York’s beautiful Hudson Valley.