SARATOGA SPRINGS — Susan Orlean, a staff writer at The New Yorker since 1992, has lived a life worth documenting.

She was portrayed by Meryl Streep (albeit in a highly fictionalized fashion) in the brilliant 2002 film “Adaptation.” As a journalist, she’s spent time on cult compounds, soaked up waves and wisdom with Maui surfers, and maintained decades-long employment at one of the world’s most esteemed magazines. 

Her latest book, “Joyride,” is a memoir that offers both a deeper understanding of the author herself and the many fascinating figures she’s profiled. What does it feel like to be welcomed into a cult commune? How did a horticulturist come to be arrested for poaching rare flowers? What is the life of an ordinary 10-year-old suburban boy really like? What exactly goes on at the World Taxidermy Championships?

To promote the release of “Joyride,” Orlean embarked on a coast-to-coast book tour that included a stop in Saratoga Springs. On Nov. 17 at Skidmore College’s Palamountain Hall, Orlean fielded questions from the audience and was interviewed by WAMC radio’s Joe Donahue. The event was presented by the Northshire Bookstore (the shop’s Director of Events Rachel Person called Orlean a “longtime Northshire staff and customer favorite.”)

Below are highlights from Orlean’s chat in the Spa City, edited for length and clarity.

Joe Donahue: At what point did you think to yourself, “Oh, that may be a good idea [to write a memoir]?”

Susan Orlean: I never thought it was a good idea [audience laughs]. What happened was, I had begun thinking about writing a book about writing, and the more I thought about it, the more it sounded like the process of writing a book about writing wouldn’t be very interesting. It sounded really pedantic and dry. At that same time, I was reflecting on this astonishing realization that I had written “The Orchid Thief” 25 years earlier. I was so struck by that, it seemed so monumental. So, it put me in the mind of reflecting on that period of time. “The Orchid Thief” wasn’t even my first book, but I just thought, “Boy, I’ve been doing this a long time and I’ve collected so many stories, not only what’s on the page, but the stories of how I did those stories.” It occurred to me that I could write a book about writing that, at the same time, sort of traced the path that I’ve taken and be a conversation with readers that was more personal than what I’m usually doing.

JD: You write in the book: “Being a writer is so much fun.” And this is a line I love: “It’s Make-A-Wish for the curious.”

SO: It really is. I sometimes am humbled by realizing how crazy it is that I can conjure a thought, like “I really want to learn about taxidermy,” and the next thing I know, I’m learning about taxidermy. Maybe that doesn’t appeal to everybody here, but to me, it was extremely exciting. It’s almost—if I can think of it, I can write a story about it.

JD: How did you write “The Orchid Thief”? You have the book in your hand. Someone from Hollywood takes the book. They go off, and the next thing you know, Meryl Streep is playing you.

SO: Yeah, it was a different experience [audience laughs] than a lot of people have… I thought the whole thing was a joke that it got optioned. Because when this book got optioned, I thought, “This is so not a movie. I cannot imagine why you’re optioning it.” But of course, you’re not going to say “No.” I just thought, “Good luck. I have no idea how you’re going to make this into a movie.” The book was a very interior kind of meditation on orchids, on passion, on Florida. The crime at the center of it is relatively small. No one gets killed. There are no car crashes. I remember at the time that it got optioned, saying to my husband, “They’re probably going to make the crime a murder, they’re probably going to jazz it up and make it a Hollywood movie,” which they kind of did, but not at all the way I pictured that it would be made into a Hollywood movie. The thing is that I never thought it would really get made. Most things that get optioned don’t get made. The percentage is maybe 1% of the things that get optioned. That’s just the way Hollywood works. So, when I got a call and they said, “Well, we’ve got the script.” I thought, “What? Seriously?” And then when they showed me the script, I said, “Seriously? No. Absolutely not.” I said, “You’re going to ruin my career, and I don’t want to be a character in a movie.” I got a lot of puppy-dog eyes. “Really, are you sure? Everybody else said ‘Okay.’” And I kept saying, “No, no, no, no, no, this is nuts.” And then my curiosity got the better of me. That feeling that I have, which is, I’d rather not not do something. I don’t always want to do things, but I don’t want to not do them. So, given this kind of knife edge that I was on, I finally, in the last minute, said, “All right, fine.” And then it was this crazy ride and obviously the film is a very complex meditation on the nature of the book. I’m far more glad that that is the movie that got made than what I pictured, which was basically taking my book, kind of amping up the drama a bit, and making a typical Hollywood movie.

JD: Who were the writers that you were reading in The New Yorker and thinking, “Man, they got it?”

SO: Oh gosh, it’s a long list. Calvin Trillin, Ian Frazier, Marc Singer, Alec Wilkinson, and then the older writers, Joseph Mitchell, A.J. Liebling, E.J. Kahn. I mean, it’s a long list and I’m probably leaving out lots of people. It was an awe-inspiring and, of course, somewhat humbling, rogue’s gallery to be joining. These were the people when I think about John McPhee, and in fact, my first office at The New Yorker was right across from his, and I really felt like, how do I get to sit in an office across from John McPhee? I’m not worthy. That’s why when I wrote the introduction of “Joyride,” I really did feel that I was in the land of giants, that these were the giants of nonfiction writing, and to be in their presence was truly inspiring. They’re in the office regularly, people like Roger Angell and Marc Singer, they were all in the office all the time. So just being around them and also seeing that when they turned stories in, they got nervous. That was actually somewhat comforting to see that even when you reach those pinnacles that they had reached, they still went through all of the same emotions of figuring a story out, not being sure whether it worked or not, waiting to hear from their editor. I remember one day seeing Roger Angell kind of pacing in the office, looking very unhappy. I said something to my editor, and I said, “What’s going on?” He said, “Well, he’s waiting to hear about a Talk of the Town piece he wrote.” The Talk of the Town pieces are these short little pieces. Roger Angell, at that point, had done millions of features, millions of books. He was one of the great writers of The New Yorker and he was still pacing the hall nervously waiting to hear if a Talk piece had worked.

JD: To this day, when you see your work in The New Yorker…still a thrill.

SO: Oh, an absolute thrill. Absolute thrill. I think it’s as exciting, seriously, as exciting as the very first time. I still, after having been there now for a long time, I still see my writing in The New Yorker typeface, and I kind of can’t believe it. I still feel like I can’t believe this. This is so, so exciting.

Audience member: Before, when you were talking about all the different writers that you worked with and that influenced you, it seemed most of them were men. When you started at The New Yorker, were there many women? And would you consider yourself a trailblazer in that way?

SO: No, The New Yorker has always had a very healthy number of women writing for it. In fact, the first, I believe, deputy editor back when the magazine was founded, was a woman. In collaboration with a man, but she was definitely at the forefront. Early on, you had writers like Janet Flanner. When I arrived, there were a lot of women writers. It happens that the list that I gave you, I mean, I could add to that Lillian Ross, Joan Didion. There were a lot of women writers who I really admired. Lillian Ross was a really important figure at the magazine. But also at that time, they had Andy Logan covering City Hall, Pauline Kael. There were a lot of women and there always have been, even at a time when maybe that wasn’t as true at other publications.

Audience member: How does one get a job as a writer in today’s market?

SO: This has been the question that has dogged me on my book tour because, without realizing it, in writing my book, I kind of trace an arc that no longer really exists. I started at alternative news weeklies, which by and large are gone. I wrote a lot for Sunday magazines, which are almost entirely gone. It’s a different world. I don’t have a quick answer to that. I should try to devise one because I’m asked a lot, and I think there are ways that being published has become somewhat easier. Not getting paid but getting published. Anyone can start a Substack. Anyone can post online. There are all sorts of easy ways to get published, but that’s not the same as supporting yourself as a writer or getting editing. One thing that has changed that I recommend to young writers is every magazine has a website that has infinitely more room for writing than the print publication. It’s just a matter of dollars and cents. You can have a gigantic website and it doesn’t cost you the way printing pages costs. So, younger writers have a bit of an easier time getting in through the website. But I don’t have an easy answer. I feel lucky that the things existed when I was coming up because those seem so much more accessible than what is going on today. I remain optimistic about people’s desire to read good writing. I will continue believing that until I’m absolutely proven wrong. But is it easy to make your career that way, or is it harder than it used to be? I think it has become harder.

THOUGHTS ON EDITORS

During her conversation, Orlean also shared her thoughts on some of the well-known editors she’s worked with at The New Yorker. 

On Tina Brown: “When Tina came in, she had a completely different attitude. She wanted the writers to be stars. She commissioned fancy headshots of everybody with the idea originally that they were going to run in the front of the magazine. It never ended up happening. But she just didn’t understand why you wouldn’t want to promote your writers as stars.”

On David Remnick: “He knows me well and he knows that if I get really excited about something, that I could probably figure it out. He doesn’t always immediately get what I’m trying to do with the story, but he’s willing to let me take a shot at it. I remember when I had, through an accident, coming across a taxidermy catalog, and I got really excited, and I thought, “Oh my God, taxidermy. Who thinks about taxidermy and who knew that it was such a thriving business that it would have an industry catalog this thick?” I was super excited about it. I Googled taxidermy, and lo and behold, the World Taxidermy Championships were coming up. So, the next day, I burst into the office, and I said to Remnick, “Can I cover the World Taxidermy Championships?” And he said, “Let me think if I already assigned it to someone.”

On Robert Gottlieb: “He was wonderful. He’s a brilliant man and also very playful and very open to eccentricity because he was eccentric himself. He didn’t edit my pieces. He read everything. He wasn’t my hands-on editor, but he absolutely was open to the ideas that I was bringing early on that were pretty out there. He let me go at them. My first full-length feature, which I did under his reign, was I had heard about a cab driver in New York who was the king of his African tribe. I just thought, this is a fantastic story and I really want to do it as a feature. He just said, ‘Absolutely. Go ahead, that sounds great.’ So he was very open to ideas that push the boundaries of what maybe was a typical magazine piece and I loved working with him.”

BALLSTON SPA — Now in its third year, the “Sounds in Winter” Concert Series will continue with a Jan. 17 performance by the Eribeth Trio at the Brookside Museum.

Based in the Capital District, the Eribeth Chamber Players have performed throughout the northeast, as well as in Germany. With flexible instrumentation, the group presents a variety of programs, from string quartet and piano trio concerts to collaborations with actors and dancers. The Eribeth Trio is made up of local musicians Elizabeth Silver on violin, Erica Pickhardt on cello, and Kristen Tuttman on the piano.

The group’s Jan. 17 performance will feature “Music for a Victorian Tea.” All audience members are encouraged to bring “that beautiful unused teacup from your china closet” as tea and cookies will be served as part of the event.

The concert will begin at 3 p.m. in Brookside’s Long Room. The performance is free, however registration at brooksidemuseum.org is required as seating is limited.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — New Saratoga Springs poet laureate Jay Rogoff will host a Poetry Repair Café at Northshire Bookstore on Sunday, Jan. 4 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The event will allow local poets to meet with Rogoff to help improve or fix their poems-in-progress.

“Sometimes a poet just needs a second pair of eyes—or ears—on a poem to realize what kinds of changes might help improve it,” Rogoff said.

Rogoff is an award-winning author of eight books. His most recent collection of poems is “Loving in Truth: New and Selected Poems.” He was named the Spa City’s second poet laureate at a Sept. 16, 2025 city council meeting. His two-year term begins this month.

“Jay Rogoff was the very first poet to give a reading at Northshire’s Saratoga store after we opened this location in 2013, and we’ve welcomed him back many times since then,” said Northshire’s Events Manager Rachel Person. “All of us at Northshire are thrilled to be launching this new partnership, and facilitating this opportunity for local poets to work directly with Saratoga’s new poet laureate.”

Rogoff plans to hold the Poetry Repair Café on the first Sunday of every month. For further information, call Northshire Bookstore at 518-682-4200 or visit the store’s website, www.northshire.com.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) recently announced that it is accepting visual art, literary art, and performing art submissions to be featured at “The Adirondack Trust Company Festival of Young Artists” online exhibit and live event on May 31, 2026. Numerous works will be selected with one student in each category receiving the “Outstanding Artist Award” and $500 to support the further development of their craft.

SPAC is also once again partnering with Empire State Youth Orchestra (ESYO) to offer the Student Composition Contest, selecting one student composer to have their work premiered by the ESYO Symphony Orchestra during the festival.

Returning for its 9th annual event, The Adirondack Trust Company Festival of Young Artists will celebrate the collaborative creativity of more than 700 of the Capital Region’s brightest young dancers, musicians, singers, poets, and visual artists all in support of SPAC’s mission to provide free access to enriching arts programs for local youth.

This year’s event will follow the theme “seasons,” celebrating cycles of growth, transformation, reflection and renewal, while also commemorating 60 years of SPAC.

High school students, middle school students, and youth ensembles who reside in or are part of a school or organization based in the following NY counties are invited to submit photos of artwork, digital copies of literary compositions, and videos of performances: Albany, Essex, Fulton, Hamilton, Montgomery, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, Rensselaer, Warren, Washington.

The deadline for submissions is Jan. 31, 2026. Visit spacfoya.org for additional details.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Upstate New Yorker William H. Seward purchased Alaska, miraculously survived an assassination attempt, led the Republican Party in its formative years, personally housed fugitive slaves as part of the Underground Railroad, and helped guide the Union to victory in the Civil War as President Abraham Lincoln’s Secretary of State. 

Yet, the details of the almost-president’s life have been mostly overlooked. Seward, it seems, is always a supporting character in someone else’s story.

A new book that draws upon 25,000 pages of Seward’s never-before-seen private correspondence hopes to change that.

“The Sewards of New York” by Thomas P. Slaughter is the result of a more than 12-year-long project to digitize and archive Seward’s papers that were discovered inside baskets and trunks. The letters shed light on many aspects of the Sewards, revealing them to be one of the most important political families of the 19th century.

The tome includes countless references to the Capital Region (Seward served as both governor of New York and as a member of the state Senate in Albany). It also provides intimate glimpses into the lives of a family rocked by war and violence (an injured and bedridden Seward was viciously stabbed by one of John Wilkes Booth’s co-conspirators; three of Seward’s children were present during the attempted murder).

The book also explores the Seward family’s close ties to Auburn, a small city in the Finger Lakes region that today is the site of the William H. Seward House Museum.

“The Sewards of New York” is currently available via Cornell University Press.

ALBANY — The Palace Performing Arts Center announced on Dec. 19 that Michele Desrosiers has joined the Palace Theatre as its new managing director.

According to her LinkedIn page, Desrosiers was the chief marketing officer at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) from Oct. 2017 until Sept. 2019.

In her new role, Desrosiers will work closely with Executive Director Kevin Johnson to strengthen marketing and fundraising initiatives, expand audience engagement, and deepen partnerships with community organizations across the Capital Region, the Palace Theatre said in a news release. Desrosiers will focus on elevating the Palace’s visibility, enhancing donor and sponsor relationships, and broadening the theatre’s reach throughout the region.

Desrosiers’ background spans performing arts leadership, nonprofit management, strategic communications, and brand strategy. She has led large-scale marketing campaigns, driven organizational rebrands, and guided audience growth strategies. Her regional arts experience includes leadership roles at both the Capital Repertory Theatre and SPAC, complemented by corporate marketing work across technology, finance, and professional services sectors.

“Michele’s marketing experience and strong understanding of the arts community will be tremendous assets as we continue to strengthen our team and grow our presence in the Capital Region,” said Johnson. “Her collaborative approach aligns well with our long-term goals for engagement and community partnership.”

“The Palace is a historic and cherished cultural institution,” Desrosiers said. “I’m excited to work with Kevin and the team to grow our audiences, cultivate community relationships, and support the theatre’s continued growth and impact.”

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Yaddo President Elaina Richardson is stepping down from her post at the nearly 100-year-old artist residency.

The news was first reported in a New York Times article published Dec. 10 before Yaddo released its own statement on Dec. 12.

“With Yaddo strong and the board robust,” Richardson said, “I have decided that this is the right moment to step aside as president and let someone else bring fresh energy and ideas to this place we all love.”

Richardson served as president for 25 years, and Yaddo is now undergoing a nationwide search for her successor. Yaddo artists and board co-chairs Janice Y.K. Lee and Peter Kayafas are forming an internal committee to guide the transition. The process is expected to take about a year. Richardson will continue to lead Yaddo until the next president is chosen.

“From stabilizing our historic mansion to building new studios, growing our endowment, and guiding Yaddo through the pandemic, Elaina has reshaped Yaddo’s story,” the artist community said in its statement. “She has welcomed thousands of writers and artists through our gates, strengthening our mission with vision, grace, and generosity. We are proud of Elaina—and proud of Yaddo.”

Yaddo credited Richardson with the following achievements, among others:

• helping to secure Yaddo’s designation as a National Historic Landmark in 2013;

• overseeing the transfer of the Yaddo archival records to the New York Public Library;

• renovating and expanding Pigeon Barn into a live-work facility;

• restoring West House with upgraded electrical and plumbing systems, a wheelchair lift, and accessible bathrooms; 

• growing the applicant pool from 1,039 in 2000 to 2,662 in 2024;

• and increasing Yaddo’s endowment from $9 million to more than $38 million. 

Prior to becoming president of Yaddo, Richardson was editor-in-chief of Elle, one of the world’s most popular fashion and lifestyle magazines.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Stella Cole, a 26-year-old jazz singer, heaped praise onto the Spa City while performing here as part of the Saratoga Performing Arts Center’s “Sounds of the Season” series.

In between her renditions of jazz standards and Christmas tunes, the New York City-based Cole said she’d been to Saratoga before during the summer months. “I love Saratoga,” she said. “It’s the best.” But her Dec. 14 concert at Skidmore College’s Arthur Zankel Music Center marked her first time here outside of the busy tourist season. “Do you guys know you live in a Hallmark movie?” she asked the audience, gesturing towards the snowy trees seen through the stage window.

Cole has been a rapidly rising star after attracting attention on TikTok with her version of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” She performed the song in Saratoga as well, somehow making one of the world’s most recognizable melodies sound fresh. Called a “powerhouse rivaling Judy Garland and Rosemary Clooney” by People, Cole has released a trio of albums since acquiring millions of social media followers. This year, she released “It’s Magic,” a record produced by Grammy winner Matt Pierson that features Cole’s signature blend of songs made famous by movies and entries from the Great American Songbook.

Cole’s performance took place at the Zankel Music Center due to the renovation of the Spa Little Theater, where SPAC typically holds its indoor concerts. “Christmas Dreaming with Stella Cole” was SPAC’s final show of 2025.