In Memoriam: Susan Bullock – 1959-2009

This is a reprint of the obituary that ran in the Boston Globe on February 25, 2009. A tribute to Susan will appear in a forthcoming issue of Literary Matters.

Poet Susan Bullock of the Back Bay section of Boston died unexpectedly at home on Friday, February 20th, 2009. Beloved daughter of Joan Bullock of Camden, ME and Rodway Bullock of Elizabeth, NJ, sister of Stephen Bullock and his wife Deborah of New Bedford, MA and Christopher Bullock and his wife Mary of Huntington, CT, and beloved aunt to Ashley and Alysha Bullock of Huntington, CT. She also leaves behind her cherished companions Pushkin and Luba. Born in Somerville, NJ in 1959, Susan graduated Somerville High School in 1977 and Wellesley College in 1981, after which she lived in Europe. Returning to the States, she then studied modern lyric poetry. Her poems have appeared in Persephone, Harvard Review, Princeton Theological Review, English, Ars Interpres, Stand, and Literary Imagination. She has received fellowships from the Thomas Watson Foundation and Four Oaks Foundation. An avid world traveler, Susan’s poetry reflected her immersion in the places she visited. She is the author of Selected Poems, an anthology of her work. Susan was Director of Community Relations and Internal Communications at Pioneer Investments in Boston. She served on the Board of Directors of the St. Boniface Haiti Foundation, the Association of Literary Scholars and Critics, On the Rise, a women’s shelter in Cambridge, and New England Home for Little Wanderers. Her biggest fundraising effort through Pioneer Investments was for the Roberto Bazzoni Onlus, a charity supporting the Luisa Guidotti Hospital in Mutoko Zimbabwe. A memorial service will be held Saturday, February 28th at 12PM at Houghton Chapel, Wellesley College, 106 Central St., Wellesley MA 02481. In lieu of flowers, donations in her name can be sent to The Roberto Bazzoni Onlus-Project Zimbabwe, c/o Pioneer Investments, 60 State Street, Boston, MA 02109 or Wellesley College, 106 Central Street, Wellesley, MA 02481.