Susan Borowitz

Susan Stevenson was born on March 6, 1959, in Lower Merion, Pennsylvania. She knew from a young age that she was passionate about writing and story creation. Both her parents, Robert Large Stevenson and Norma Willis Stevenson, were artists. As a result, there were many art artifacts scattered throughout Susan's family home. Growing up, she would often work on art projects, which later turned into illustrations in the form of books that she ultimately used to tell a story. During her years in school, the written word became her story-telling medium of choice, although she did still enjoy drawing as a form of stress relief. During her time in Hollywood, she still focused on visual arts to relieve her stress. However, this time she shifted her focus on sewing and creating formal wear for her new Hollywood lifestyle.[3]

Susan graduated from Harvard University, class of 1981 with a bachelor's degree in English Literature. At Harvard, Susan further explored her interest in writing and believed she potentially wanted a career out of it. She hoped to exercise her writing in humor, which she favored, and did so by becoming an editor of the Harvard Lampoon.[3] One of her articles has made it into the book, The Best of the Harvard Lampoon: 140 Years of American Humor [4] which includes passages from many Hollywood comedy writers before their careers took off. Eventually, writing for the Harvard Lampoon inspired her to branch out and write comedy as her career. She began freelance writing for a few years, then made her way to the Hollywood realm of comedic writing.[5]

Her first big hit was her work on the popular sitcom, Family Ties (1982–1989). In four years, Susan worked her way from story editor up to producer. Borowitz attributes her success and learning of the sitcom production trade to her mentor, Gary David Goldberg (the creator of Family Ties). She learned many things behind the scenes, such as directing and editing, but also the importance of set design and the visual factors that tie together to create a successful show.[3] She used these learned skills to help her write, produce, and co-create The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air with her husband at the time, Andy Borowitz.

Susan and Andy Borowitz had two children together, a daughter and a son. The family moved to New York City to raise the family, where Borowitz found it difficult to balance family while also maintain her job that was based 3,000 miles away. She decided to spend her time raising her children.[3] In 2003, she wrote the book, When We’re in Public, Pretend You Don’t Know Me: Surviving Your Daughter's Adolescence So You Don't Look Like an Idiot and She Still Talks to You, in order to capture her daughter's adolescence and as an outlet for other suburban mothers dealing with similar struggles.

When We’re in Public, Pretend You Don’t Know Me: Surviving Your Daughter's Adolescence So You Don't Look Like an Idiot and She Still Talks to You was Borowitz's first and only book thus far. In it, she encourages fellow mothers to be the UnCool mom in a comedic way. Much of the book consists of advice and inspiration to other moms in similar positions. She prompts them to be the adult in the relationship, and not necessarily the best friend that many teenagers prefer their mothers to be.[7] It contains advice from child psychologist, Dr. Ava Siegler, as well as some of Borowitz's personal experiences in addition to experiences of other mothers.[2]

In addition to these films and movies, Susan also wrote for various television shows such as E/R, Dreams, Webster, and Amanda's.[8]