Profile - Susan Whigham

Posted September 5, 2009, 3:44 pm

Susan Whigham grew up in Pensacola, Fla., about eight miles from the Gulf of Mexico. After graduating from high school in 1972, she spent two years at Emory University, planning to be a pharmacist. She then transferred to the University of Florida and found ink in her veins. Susan graduated as a Gator in 1977 with a degree in journalism.

While the ink still hadn’t dried on her sheepskin, she was hired by The Orlando Sentinel-Star, which later became The Orlando Sentinel. She did stints as a reporter, design editor and wire editor for several years, eventually listening to police radios for 10 years as “night cops” editor. She became a copy editor for the rest of her almost-30 years at the newspaper, correcting grammar, chasing commas, and winning national awards for clever and compelling headlines. One headline was even featured on CNN.

She took a buyout from the Sentinel in 2007, and spent a year working for Dynetech, a marketing company in Orlando. And then she decided to study Web design and computer programming, enrolling in Valencia Community College in January 2009.

Susan lives in Orlando with her husband, Michael J. Murphy. They have one daughter, Rachel, who attends the University of Central Florida. Also part of the household are six cats – including a 20-pound Maine Coon cat, Jake – and two West Highland terriers, Kenny and Otis.