“The inspiration came when we gathered my family, my husband’s family, and all of our birth families together to celebrate at our daughter Caitlin’s wedding,” Strong said in press materials. “Friends and family knew how we lived our life through open adoption, but I was inspired by witnessing the positive reaction from everyone on how it was working and has worked so beautifully over 30 years. It was an honor to introduce everyone to each other. I realized that now was the time to write it all down and share it with others. This is an incredible way to form a family and the relationships are born and based on all of us having the choose to choose and trust each other and eventually all love each other. I have never met another family like ours and so by sharing our story, I hope others are inspired to do the same.”
Strong has been writing professionally for more than 40 years. She got her start as a copywriter for MTV in New York in 1980 and then became a film magazine editor in Los Angeles in 1986. She has previously written two books: “The Greatness of Girls: Famous Women Talk About Growing Up” and “The Boldness of Boys: Famous Men Talk About Growing Up,” which were published in 2001 and 2003, respectively.
In addition she has had leadership roles locally with Dayton Literary Peace Prize, WYSO and The Neon. She also served in an administrative role at the Miami Valley School for several years. She currently resides in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Inspired to become an author thanks to Wallace Stegner’s “Crossing to Safety” and Anne Lamott’s “Bird By Bird,” Strong values the art of journaling, which helps her clarify her goals. She also offered sage advice for her readers.
“Take a chance on yourself,” she said. “Show up for people in your life. Say yes even when it’s hard and scary.”
She offered three important takeaways from the book as well:
- Consider open adoption if you can’t get pregnant.
- What if you lived the life you wanted instead of accepting the one you have.
- To be pro-active in how you live.
Credit: CONTRIBUTED
Credit: CONTRIBUTED
Above all she felt her objective in writing the book was to speak to the sheer transformative nature of adoption.
“To share our story that open adoption is not only a viable way to start a family, it is a transformative experience when adoptive parents and birth parents choose each other and make decisions based on what is best for the child,” Strong said.
HOW TO GO
What: Book launch for Susan Strong’s memoir “One Yes at a Time: How Open Adoption Transformed Our Family”
Where: Forum Theatre on first floor of the Dayton Metro Library, 215 E. Third St. Dayton
When: 4:30 p.m. Thursday, August 15
For more information about the book or to purchase: Visit amazon.com
About the Author