Susanna Maria Sheehan (née Sachsel; August 24, 1937 – February 17, 2026) was an American writer.

Life and career

Born in Vienna, Austria, on August 24, 1937,[2] she won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction for her book Is There No Place on Earth for Me?[3] The book details the experiences of a young New York City woman diagnosed with schizophrenia.[2] Portions of the book were published in The New Yorker, where she was a frequent contributor.[2] Her work as a contributing writer also appeared in The New York Times and Architectural Digest.[4]

In 1986, Sheehan published in The New Yorker "A Missing Plane," a three-part series about the U.S. Army's attempt to identify the remains of the victims of a 1944 airplane crash.[5]

Her husband was the journalist Neil Sheehan, whom she urged to copy what became known as the Pentagon Papers for the Times with her help,[6] and who also won a Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction [2] for A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam in 1989.[3] The two lived in Washington, D.C. until his death in 2021.[4]

She died in Washington, DC, on February 17, 2026, at the age of 88.[1]

Works

Her other works include:

  • 1967 Ten Vietnamese
  • 1976 A welfare mother
  • 1978 A prison and a prisoner
  • 1984 Kate Quinton's days
  • 1986 A missing plane
  • 1993 Life for Me Ain't Been No Crystal Stair[2]
  • 2002 The Banana Sculptor, the Purple Lady, and the All-Night Swimmer: Hobbies, Collecting, and Other Passionate Pursuits (co-written with Howard Means)

Further reading

References

  1. 1 2 3 Gabriel, Trip (February 22, 2026). "Susan Sheehan, Chronicler of Lives on the Margins, Dies at 88". The New York Times. Retrieved February 22, 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Brennan, Elizabeth A.; Clarage, Elizabeth C. (1999). "Profiles of the winners: General nonfiction". Who's who of Pulitzer Prize winners. Bloomsbury Academic. pp. 268–269. ISBN 1-57356-111-8.
  3. 1 2 "Pulitzer Prize Winners: General Nonfiction". The Pulitzer Prizes -- Columbia University. Retrieved 2008-02-28.
  4. 1 2 "Susan Sheehan Books, Author Bio, Book Review & More at Alibris Marketplace". Alibris. Retrieved 26 April 2013.
  5. ↑ Lax, BY Eric (1986-10-19). "A CLOUD WITH A ROCK IN IT". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-05-25.
  6. ↑ Sanger, David E.; Scott, Janny; Harlan, Jennifer; Gallagher, Brian (June 9, 2021). "'We're Going to Publish': An Oral History of the Pentagon Papers". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 13, 2021. Retrieved June 26, 2023.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Sheehan