Biography

A native of Pittsburgh and a graduate of Ohio University, Susan was hired by The Sun in 1979 as one of the first full-time women ...

Read full bio

Susan Reimer

Susan Reimer

A first lady in fighting form

A first lady in fighting form

February 13, 2012

The first family is America's egalitarian version of royalty (if you are too young to remember the sprawling Kennedy clan), and thanks to our People magazine sensibilities, we know as much about their family life and fashion as the Brits do about Kate and William's.

  • The French method for bringing up baby

    February 9, 2012

    Just as American parents were emerging from the trauma of "Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother," Amy Chua's treatise on the superiority of the semi-abusive Chinese mother, there is a new entry in the parenting rat race.

  • Fooling Mother Nature: still not a good idea

    February 6, 2012

    Mother Nature is in the news of late, and she doesn't seem happy.

  • Suspicions of Komen are borne out

    February 3, 2012

    It is no secret. I have never trusted Susan G. Komen for the Cure and its pink ribbons. And the fact that it succumbed to public pressure and agreed Friday to continue its relationship with Planned Parenthood — after announcing a cutoff of funds earlier in the week — has done little to reassure me.

  • Broken ankle fractures life as you know it

    February 1, 2012

    Forgive my absence from these pages, but I recently suffered a dislocated fracture of my ankle while saving a kitten from a speeding car.

  • Endless campaign, endlessly annoyed voters

    January 9, 2012

    Presidential elections have shoehorned their way onto a list that includes Christmas, Valentine's Day, Easter and Halloween: treasured national events that have become irritating, if not down right offensive, by how early they start and how long they last.

  • Social studies for adults

    January 5, 2012

    Having learned the tough lesson that my taste in clothing, jewelry and even toys does not match that of anyone in my family, I often retreat to my fallback gift: books.

  • Eat, sleep and be merry

    December 29, 2011

    Holiday parties are just a fancy cover, and traditional family dinners are simply an excuse. The truth is, all we want to do at this time of year is … eat.

  • To the ones who entertained and inspired, irritated and haunted us

    December 26, 2011

    This is the time of year when the media engage in the rather morbid task of revisiting all the noteworthy deaths that occurred during the previous 12 months, and readers mutter to themselves, "He died this year? I thought he was already dead."

  • Goodbye mall, my online holiday shopping has reached a tipping point

    December 21, 2011

    Online shopping topped $30 billion with 10 days to go until Christmas, up an astonishing 15 percent over last year and providing a much-needed boost to the economic mood in this country.

  • Family-values blackmail in Iowa

    December 19, 2011

    I suppose it makes sense, as presidential politicking picks up speed, to try to get the candidates to put some of their lofty campaign promises in writing.

  • Lost loved ones feel closer at the holidays

    December 15, 2011

    What happens when The Rapture hits suburbia? What happens to those left behind when God appears to randomly harvest members of the human race? A mother here, a daughter there, a husband and both children there. Suddenly gone. Snap!

  • Gingrich's really poor idea for 'really poor children'

    December 12, 2011

    Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich has been castigated on the opinion pages for declaring that child labor laws "are truly stupid" and for suggesting that poor children be hired to clean the bathrooms of their schools in order to teach a work ethic they can't possibly learn at home because nobody there has a job.

  • Aging seniors need Santa, too

    December 8, 2011

    It is the time of year for angel trees. They pop up in just about every mall, decorated with little angel-shaped tags with the name of a child, his age and his Christmas wish.

  • Living longer, but with no plan for the final act

    December 5, 2011

    Connie and Nancy, my best friends since the seventh grade, and I were chatting on a kind of cross-country speakerphone conference call — catching up on jobs, husbands, kids and, sadly, mothers in nursing homes.

  • Told you so: Schools need better parents

    November 30, 2011

    I occasionally have these moments — not "aha" moments exactly, more like "I could have told you that" moments — when I think that companies or research institutions should have just asked me and I could have saved them a lot of time and money.

  • Hillary 2012?

    November 28, 2011

    Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has famously declared that she wants her next job title to be "grandmother."

  • Carving out some space for Thanksgiving

    November 24, 2011

    Doug Matthews was ahead of everybody else in the take-back-Thanksgiving movement.

  • Chelsea Clinton, latest child of famous parents to play journalist

    November 21, 2011

    What ever happened to paying your dues? Pulling yourself up by your bootstraps? Rags to riches?

  • Moving out comes with many definitions

    November 17, 2011

    My daughter has moved out of the family home, saying that she wants a chance to decorate her own living space, and while I am sad that the last of my two birds has left the nest, at least she didn't storm out saying that she was offended by our values, which is pretty much how I left home, back in the day.

  • Susan Reimer: Penn State has lost the high ground

    November 8, 2011

    Growing up in Western Pennsylvania, your college football loyalties were to one of two schools.

  • Kardashian's wedding crasher is no surprise

    November 2, 2011

    It appears the National Basketball Association lock-out has claimed its first significant casualty: The fairy-tale marriage — and we mean that in every sense of the phrase — of reality TV star Kim Kardashian and New Jersey Nets power forward Kris Humphries.

  • Coaching character should be the goal

    October 26, 2011

    Sports, Baltimore Colts great Joe Ehrmann believes, is not a game.

  • Baggage and blessings

    September 11, 2011

    It was the song "Greensleeves" that drew Shirley Dempsey-Kahn into the Goodwill store that December morning. It reminded her of her first trip to London as a child, with her father, a naval officer, and her mother.

  • The power of balance

    August 17, 2011

    Serelee Hefler tells the students in her class, including a 66-year-old man and a woman who is six months' pregnant, that they are on a ship in the Chesapeake Bay and a storm has just blown in.

  • Preventing teen pregnancy saves taxpayers billions

    June 15, 2011

    When it comes to teens having babies, it's a matter of pay me now or pay me later.

  • A hard week for Michael Phelps – and for Mom

    February 9, 2009

    Last week was a tough one for Michael Phelps. I am betting it was equally tough for his mom.

  • Videos of beatings a lesson for kids

    April 15, 2008

    The harassment of teachers and the intimidation of students by classroom bullies is nothing new.

  • The deconstruction of Harriet Miers is filled with sexism

    October 11, 2005

    When the first news stories about Harriet Miers' nomination to the Supreme Court all used the same quote from President Bush describing her as "a pit bull in size 6 shoes," I decided I would listen carefully to this debate.

  • Clinton redux revives that sense of betrayal

    June 22, 2004

    SEEING BILL CLINTON in the spotlight again is like - forgive the analogy - seeing an old lover after not enough time has passed.

  • Stewart's attitude was on trial, too

    March 9, 2004

    MARTHA STEWART's conviction in federal court last week must stand as a warning to all future Marthas.

  • No reason to recant support for Arnold

    October 7, 2003

    ACOUPLE OF weeks ago, I wrote a column saying that if I were a Californian, I would vote for Arnold Schwarzenegger.

  • Schwarzenegger's zest for American dream counterbalances past of sex, drugs

    September 16, 2003

    IT MIGHT COST me my feminist membership card, but if I were a California resident, I'd vote for Arnold Schwarzenegger for governor - even if I'd have to wait a few more months to do so.

  • Word war: `Marital' becomes `martial'

    December 10, 2002

    MY HUSBAND and I lead the split-shift, tag-team, crisis-du-jour lives so common among couples with teen-age children, and our paths are guaranteed to cross at only one moment: Sunday night at 9 o'clock for the latest installment of The Sopranos.

  • Sniper is wrecking the games students play

    October 22, 2002

    The killings by the sniper in the white van have thrown the athletic lives of children and families into a holy mess of official overreaction and bureaucratic indecision.

  • With everyone a target, fear is hard to avoid

    October 9, 2002

    IT IS DIFFERENT this time.

  • Parents feel high school angst again, through teens

    October 6, 2002

    IT APPEARS THAT I am not popular in high school. Again.

  • Lindh rage gives way to sadness

    July 23, 2002

    THE CASE OF John Walker Lindh has been resolved to the apparent satisfaction of both parties.

  • Mourning loss of son's competitor

    March 19, 2002

    KEVAN Fletcher, a top-notch wrestler for Patterson High School, was found shot to death inside his East Baltimore rowhouse earlier this month, and a pair of teen-age acquaintances have been arrested and charged with his murder.

  • All we can do for safety is embrace each other

    September 30, 2001

    IN THE IMMEDIATE aftermath of the World Trade Center and Pentagon explosions, I had one thought, and I bet it was almost universal.

  • Our routines will keep us busy, but the sadness will stay with us

    September 14, 2001

    IN THE AFTERMATH of the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks, we are being told that we must recognize that life in this country will never be the same.

  • And now, for a -- of local flavor, we bring you a taste of Art Donovan

    January 31, 1993

    Hey, Jim Kelly! Try some warm olive oil on top of your head, ya big crybaby.


The Baltimore Sun welcomes submissions of op-ed articles of 650 to 750 words. Local topics and authors are preferred. Please send your submission to op-ed page editor Mike Cross-Barnet at commentary@baltsun.com or by clicking here.

Birth control compromise

President Obama on Friday said he would not require religious institutions to pay for insurance plans that include contraceptives but that he would require insurers to provide birth control to participants at no cost. Does that go too far in addressing the concerns of Catholic bishops and others, or not far enough?

  • Too far
  • Just right
  • Not far enough
Readers Respond
The Sun welcomes comments from readers. All comments become the property of The Sun, which reserves the right to edit them. Comments should include your name and address, along with day and evening telephone numbers. E-mail us: talkback@baltimoresun.com; write us: Talk Back, The Sun, P.O. Box 1377, Baltimore 21278-0001; fax us: 410-332-6977
Submit site feedback | Maryland Voices
Readers Respond | Second Opinion