Author Susie Duncan Sexton will read from her book "Secrets of an Old Typewriter" as part of the Ann Arbor Arts and Culture Series from 1-2:30 p.m. on Sept. 15. She will be joined by son Roy Sexton who, accompanied by pianist Rebecca Biber, will offer a selection of his mom's favorite show tunes. This presentation will be held at the Ann Arbor Senior Center at 1320 Baldwin Avenue, $5 general admission or $4 for guests 60 years and older. To reserve your tickets, please call 734-794-6250.
Anyone who has ever lived in a small town certainly knows that secrets are sometimes not so secret. Susie Duncan Sexton has tickled the keys of her trusty old typewriter for nearly five decades, and now that venerable machine is ready to reveal its secrets. "Secrets of an Old Typewriter" may be about small-town life, but the ideas contained within it are expansive.
"My husband and I adore Ann Arbor," says Susie. "I am so jealous that my son gets to live here. This town with its progressive sensibility, thoughtful approach to life, and love of nature and animals is my ideal, so I can't begin to describe how honored it is for this Hoosier to be invited to participate in this Arts and Culture program.
"My son has lived in Michigan since 1999 and in the Ann Arbor area since 2007 and, while we always wanted him to live with us forever, now I want to come live with him!"
Susie will have copies of her book on hand to sell and autograph. In a recent review of "Secrets" by fellow author Kandy Kay Scaramuzzo ("Pie: An Old Brown Horse"), Scaramuzzo writes, "This book is a true testament to what it's like to live in a small town. The author attacks …with gusto."
Ann Arbor/Saline-resident Roy Sexton, Susie Duncan Sexton's son, is known throughout Michigan for his cabaret style performances. Roy will be singing some classic musical theatre tunes (and a surprise or two), including compositions by Stephen Sondheim, Frank Loesser, Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick, Charles Strouse and Lee Adams and Stephen Schwartz. Roy co-founded Ann Arbor's Penny Seats Theatre Company and recently completed a run as Noble Eggleston (and six other characters!) in the musical "Little Me" at the West Park Band Shell this summer and as Professor Callahan in "Legally Blonde the Musical" at Farmington Players this past spring. He has had leading roles in local productions of the musicals "Oklahoma!," "Company," "The Pajama Game," "Rags," "Bells are Ringing," "Fiddler on the Roof" and "Side by Side by Sondheim," among others.
Roy will be accompanied by music director and local teacher Rebecca Biber, who just completed a stint helming the music duties for "Little Me." She has worked extensively with other local theatre groups as well, including Spotlight Players, Farmington Players and Encore Theatre. She holds degrees from The University of Michigan.
Susie Duncan Sexton grew up in the very small town of Columbia City, Ind. After graduating 12th in her class at Ball State University (winning the first-ever John R. Emens award for "most outstanding senior"), she returned to her hometown where she has worked as a teacher, a publicist and a health lecturer.
She currently writes monthly columns "Old Type Writer" for a popular local blog "Talk of the Town"; she also writes "Homeward Angle" for the "Columbia City Post and Mail" newspaper. She has been a frequent contributor to the literary journal "Moronic Ox," and her poetry was selected by Wayne State professor M.L. Liebler to be featured in "Poetic Resonance Imaging: Behind the Door." She also has been featured in "Our USA," "Writing Raw," "Where Writers Write" and "InD'tale" magazines. Her first book "Secrets of an Old Typewriter" is available now as a paperback (as well as download formats) at http://www.open-bks.com, http://www.amazon.com, and http://www.susieduncansexton.com.
Describing her work, Susie says, "I willingly share nostalgic trips to the past as I have now achieved such an old age that no one remains who can question the authenticity of my memory of places, people and events that were very much never what they were cracked up to be."
