Herald stalwart Susan hangs up her pen after two decades

In terms of her contribution to the newsroom, Susan Smuts-Steyn could be described as a Jack (Jill) of all trades and master (mistress) of many.

She needed a multi-pegged stand on which to hang all the hats she wore in her time at the South Coast Herald, which has come to an end now with her recent retirement after nearly 20 years with the paper.

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She started as a proof-reader, then moved into features, and finished up subbing both submitted copy and journalists’ work, for the Herald and its sister publication, the Mid South Coast Mail in Scottburgh.

Susan did not suffer fools gladly but was always gracious, especially with those learning the tricks of the trade. Her economy with words and efficiency in explanation did not mean she was in a grumpy mood, it was quite the opposite in fact.

She occasionally doubled as a photographer in case of emergency, and happily contributed digital copy for the Herald’s website.

Much of this was borne out of her love of history, with her web articles ‘Looking Back on South Coast History’ featuring Herald stories from yesteryear.

Her book ‘I was born to be a Duchess’ was serialised for the website and proved popular.

Everything was always done without a fuss, nothing was ever too much trouble.

Over the years she was known as Susan Smuts-Steyn, Sue Cooke (her maiden name which was used as a by-line as she felt Smuts-Steyn was a mouthful) or Aunty Susan when she oversaw the Junior Club.

Outside of the Herald, she was and still is, known as Lion Susan, having served as Hibberdene Lions’ Club president, among other portfolios.

She has a wonderful sense of humour and a general knowledge perhaps unmatched in the history of Herald staff. This earned her the in-house nickname ‘Cookepedia’.

When all else failed, and no one knew how to spell a certain word or confirm a fact, the final option was ‘ask Susan’.

Journalists all agreed that if they were ever on ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire’ and needed to ‘phone a friend’ for a tricky answer, it would be Susan!

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The Herald was immensely fortunate to have someone of her quality work for the paper for as long as she did.

Cricket fans among the staff will miss regular updates (while following on Cricinfo) when South Africa or England are playing.

They do, of course, expect to see her around Christmas time with her Lion’s cakes and famous chili-infused sherry sauce in hand.

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