Susan Casey

Susan Casey
Born	1962  Toronto
Occupation	Writer, editor
Employer	O, The Oprah Magazine
Website	susancasey.com

Susan Casey (born 1962) is a Canadian born writer. She has been lead editor of Sports Illustrated Women and O, The Oprah Magazine and she has written several non-fiction books including The Devil's Teeth concerning sharks in the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary in California.

Life

Casey was born in Toronto. She became creative director of Outside magazine ^[1] and she joined what was then "Sports Illustrated for Women" in early 2001 as managing editor. Despite her re-vamp and being nominated for a National Magazine award the (now named) Sports Illustrated Women was discontinued at the end of 2002 by Time Inc. ^[2]

Casey has written several non-fiction books. In 2005, when she was development editor of Time Inc., she published the best-selling book, The Devil's Teeth: A True Story of Obsession and Survival Among America's Great White Sharks, concerning great white sharks that she had observed from the Farallon Islands, 27 miles off San Francisco. She observed the dozens of sharks that are part of a research project by ornithologist Peter Pyle and Scot Anderson. ^[1] Anderson has studied the sharks in the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary for 25 years. ^[3]

In 2010, she was editor-in-chief of O, The Oprah Magazine when she published The Wave: In the Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks and Giants of the Ocean. The book discusses incidences and evidence for huge waves that can be 90 feet high. She also includes the sport of tow-in surfing using examples of surfers like Laird Hamilton who get their surfboards towed by boats to high speeds so that they can ride larger waves. ^[4] She was interviewed on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart about her and the book.

In 2013, Casey stood down as editor of O, The Oprah Magazine so that she could write a book. She was replaced by Lucy Kaylin who was promoted from the magazine's staff. ^[5] Casey's next book, Voices in the Ocean, was about dolphins and it was published in 2015. She describes the experience of swimming with dolphins and their exploitation by humans for amusement and consumption. She interviewed Lori Marino who told her about the intelligence of these mammals who have more complex brains than humans. ^[6]

In 2023, Casey published The Underworld: Journeys to the Depths of the Ocean, an investigation of the deep ocean, its history, its champions, and urgent need for protection from destruction. Captivated by mysteries held by the 98% of our biosphere which is in the dark, Casey spent years researching the book, including two deep dives in Hawaii and the Caribbean. ^[7]

References

1. Flynn, Louise Jarvis (2005-06-05). "'The Devil's Teeth': Great White Ways". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2023-06-28.
2. "Sports Illustrated Women gets ax". 2002-10-20. Archived from the original on 2002-10-20. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
3. "White Shark Research | Office of National Marine Sanctuaries". sanctuaries.noaa.gov. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
4. Morris, Holly (2010-09-17). "Surf's Up". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2023-06-28.
5. Bloomgarden-Smoke, Kara (2013-04-29). "Lucy Kaylin Rises to Editor in Chief at O, The Oprah Magazine". Observer. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
6. Hoare, Philip (2015-09-09). "Voices in the Ocean: A Journey into the Wild and Haunting World of Dolphins by Susan Casey – review". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2023-06-28.
7. Alter, Alexandra (2013-08-01). "Obsessed With the Ocean, Susan Casey Takes the Plunge". New York Times. Retrieved 2023-09-07.