A former elementary school teacher and bicycle-tour guide, Parker did not embark on a writing career until 1995, a year after her husband, Ralph, suffered a devastating bicycle accident.  Ralph was left with no movement below his shoulders, and Susan became his caretaker and the couple’s sole breadwinner.

In November 1998, the San Francisco Sunday Chronicle-Examiner published a 2,500 word essay by Parker about her new life.  Her crisp, understated style bearing no trace of self-pity struck a chord with readers.  After more of her writing appeared in Bay Area newspapers over the winter, Parker was invited to serve two stints as a substitute columnist at the Chronicle.  Her inaugural series of five columns, published the week of April 5-9, 1999, generated hundreds of e-mails, letters, and phone calls from the reading public demanding more stories from Parker.  Her work has been featured on the Chattahoochee Review, The Sun Magazine, Hope Magazine and the Great River Review.  Over 200 essays have appeared in The San Francisco Chronicle, Washington Post, Chicago Tribute, San Jose Mercury News and the Denver Post.

Parker’s book, Tumbling After Pedaling Like Crazy After Life Goes Downhill, was published by Crown in the Spring 2002.  It has been described as a story about learning to accept change, finding kinship in unexpected places, discovering differences between people, and searching for and ultimately finding inner strength.  In December 2002 HBO optioned the screenrights to Tumbling After.

Parker currently reviews books for The San Francisco Chronicle and had a weekly column in the Berkeley Daily Planet.  She will enter the MFA Program in Creative Writing at San Francisco State University in the fall, 2003.