Beyond Her Books: Susan Meissner Helps Others Author Dreams

Susan Meissner, a longtime author, is involved with various community activities.

She grew up in Poway and speaks at local book clubs and classrooms here.

Her biggest accomplishment?

She says it’s her career and the way she’s guided others.

“I don’t often look inward to my own successes, but on those occasions when I have impacted another to live a more fulfilled life or to pursue a dream they didn’t think they had the courage to chase or to step out into uncharted territory, that has brought me much joy,” she said.

“It is wonderful to say I have written 15 books, but what will echo after I am gone is not so much what I have done or written but how I treated people.”

She finds inspiration from her mother, Judy Horning.

“Many people see retirement as a time to relax, and thus they contribute very little to the society that they no longer collect a paycheck from,” she said. “There’s nothing wrong with living that way, but it seems kind of empty to me.

“My mom, a retired business woman, is as busy as she ever was when she worked full time, but now as a volunteer. The hours she spent working she now spends serving. That is something to aspire to.”

What does Women’s History Month mean to you?

“The contributions of women throughout the course of history are immense. Spending a few moments celebrating those moments is what will inspire young girls to reach for high goals, attempt great things and live lives of meaning and integrity. History teaches us; it always has. Our job is to listen to its lessons.”