Susan Evans McCloud
Encyclopedia
Susan Evans McCloud is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 novelist, author, poet, hymnwriter, and member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).

Biography

McCloud and has lived much of her adult life in Provo, Utah
Provo, Utah
Provo is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Utah, located about south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front. Provo is the county seat of Utah County and lies between the cities of Orem to the north and Springville to the south...

.

McCloud was a member of Joseph A. Cannon's 1992 Utah County Steering Committee when he was seeking the Republican Nomination for Senate.

In 2004, McCloud was given the Reed Smoot
Reed Smoot
Reed Owen Smoot was a native-born Utahn who was first elected to the United States Senate from Utah in 1903, and served as a Senator until 1933...

 Citizenship Awards business women of the year award.

Music

Two of McCloud's hymns appear in the LDS Church's 1985 hymnbook
Hymns of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (1985 book)
Hymns of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the official hymn book of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ....

. One of these, "Lord I Would Follow Thee," has also been recorded by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir
Mormon Tabernacle Choir
The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, sometimes colloquially referred to as MoTab, is a Grammy and Emmy Award winning, 360-member, all-volunteer choir. The choir is part of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . However, the choir is completely self-funded, traveling and producing albums to...

. Lines from this hymn have been quoted in the LDS community, and it has even been called "one of the best-loved songs in the LDS Church" McCloud wrote her other hymn, "As Zion's Youth in Latter Days," with the goal of giving strength to a "vacillating youth."

McCloud has also contributed to film music used by the seminaries of the LDS Church.

Writing

McCloud has published more than 45 books. Since the late 1970s she has published nearly one novel annually, many through the publishers Bookcraft
Bookcraft
Bookcraft was a major publisher of books and products for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints .-History:In 1940, LDS Church President Heber J. Grant asked the church's Improvement Era magazine to compile his sermons into a book called Gospel Standards. Compiler G...

 or Scribe Publishing. Her novel Black Stars Over Mexico was a best seller in January 1985. Brigham Young: An Inspiring Personal Biography was partly developed as a result of her 30 years as a docent
Docent
Docent is a title at some European universities to denote a specific academic appointment within a set structure of academic ranks below professor . Docent is also used at some universities generically for a person who has the right to teach...

 at the Beehive House
Beehive House
The Beehive House is one of the two official residences of Brigham Young, an early leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . The Beehive House gets its name from the Beehive sculpture atop the house. It was designed by Young's brother-in-law and architect of the Salt Lake...

. McCloud also wrote a book on love with Randy Jernigan.

Many of her novels are historical fiction
Historical fiction
Historical fiction tells a story that is set in the past. That setting is usually real and drawn from history, and often contains actual historical persons, but the principal characters tend to be fictional...

 of 19th-century Latter-day Saints in far-flung places, such as England or India. Some reviewers have criticized her novels as being pro-Mormon and repetitious of previous themes. Her work has been reviewed by Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought
Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought
Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought is an independent quarterly journal of "Mormon thought" that addresses a wide range of issues on Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint Movement....

and Sunstone Review, where it also received some criticism. Although rejected by some critics, her work is praised by others, such as LDS commentator and Deseret News columnist Jerry Johnston.

McCloud's poetry first appeared in the Ensign magazine in 1972.

McCloud has also written scripts for film and TV productions, including the script for making one of her books into a made for TV movie.

External links

  • Mentioned in Lavina Fielding Anderson
    Lavina Fielding Anderson
    Lavina Fielding Anderson is a Latter Day Saint scholar, writer, editor, and feminist. Anderson holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of Washington...

    (1994) "Utah Literature". Utah History Encyclopedia.
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