About Susan L Taylor

Susan L. Taylor began her career at Essence magazine in 1970, as a freelance fashion and beauty editor. By 1981 she was the editor in chief, and in 2000 she was promoted to publications director. Her monthly inspirational column, In the Spirit, was such a popular feature of the magazine that she published three volumes of selections from it. She was the recipient of the Henry Johnson Fisher Award from the Magazine Publishers of America in 1998 (becoming the first African American woman to receive the award), and in 2003 she was presented with the Exceptional Woman in Publishing Award in 2003. The NAACP gave her its President's Award in 2006. She lives in upstate New York.