ALLPORT, Susan 1950-

PERSONAL: Born July 5, 1950, in New Haven, CT; daughter of Alexander Wise (an administrator) and Jane (Raible) Allport; married David C. Howell (an artist and product designer), September 10, 1978; children: Liberty, Cecil. Education: Pitzer College, B.A., 1972; Tulane University of Louisiana, M.S., 1977. Politics: Independent. Religion: None.

ADDRESSES: Home—New York. Agent—Virginia Barber, 101 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10003.

CAREER: Writer.

MEMBER: National Association of Science Writers, American Medical Writers Association.

AWARDS, HONORS: Named Pennsylvania Art Educator of the Year, Pennsylvanian Art Education Association, 1996.

WRITINGS:

Explorers of the Black Box: The Search for the Cellular Basis of Memory, Norton (New York, NY), 1986.

Sermons in Stone: The Stone Walls of New England and New York, illustrated by David Howell, Norton (New York, NY), 1990.

A Natural History of Parenting: From Emperor Penguins to Reluctant Ewes: A Naturalist Looks at Parenting in the Animal World and Ours, Harmony (New York, NY), 1997, reprinted as A Natural History of Parenting: A Naturalist Looks at Parenting in the Animal World and Ours, Three Rivers (New York, NY), 1998.

The Primal Feast: Food, Sex, Foraging, and Love, Harmony Books (New York, NY), 2000.

(With Kevin Gardner) The Granite Kiss: Traditions and Techniques of Building New England Stone Walls, illustrated by Guillermo Nunez, Countryman Press (Woodstock, VT), 2001.

Also contributor to the New York Times.

SIDELIGHTS: Susan Allport is interested in the history of the things that surround her, and this interest is reflected in her writing. A frequent contributor to the New York Times, Allport is also the author of several nonfiction works, including Explorers of the Black Box: The Search for the Cellular Basis of Memory, Sermons in Stone: The Stone Walls of New England and New York, and A Natural History of Parenting: From Emperor Penguins to Reluctant Ewes: A Naturalist Looks at Parenting in the Animal World and Ours.

In 1990 Allport published Sermons in Stone: The Stone Walls of New England and New York in which she reported on the origins and reasons for the more than 250,000 miles of stone walls existing in New England and New York following the Civil War. New York Times reviewer Rolland Foster Miller explained that Allport "tells many stories. She traces a history of the eons, of the great glaciations that threw these stones in our path in the first place. She outlines the early need for walls, the laws that grew up around them and the dramatic shifts in agriculture that signaled the end of their early usefulness." Some of the old stone walls still exist throughout New England and New York, 1000 yards of which remain on Allport's land, noted Miller, "with some walls serving an old purpose—fencing the family's . . . sheep." In 2001 Allport revisited the subject of stone walls in a collaboration with stonemason Kevin Gardner, titled The Granite Kiss: Traditions and Techniques of Building New England Stone Walls. In addition to providing the history, aesthetics, and philosophy of wall building, this book also provides detailed instruction on constructing a good stone wall.

Allport's third publication, A Natural History of Parenting: From Emperor Penguins to Reluctant Ewes: A Naturalist Looks at Parenting in the Animal World and Ours, addresses the child-rearing practices of a wide variety of species. Inspired by her observations of ewes raised on her upstate New York property, Allport gives both personal perspectives and scientific information about a variety of parenting activities, from birthing the young to abandonment. Intermingling information about human behavior with that of other animals, such as bats, wasps, dolphins, and baboons, A Natural History of Parenting looks at various adaptations evolved by species related to parental care of offspring.

"Readers are taken on a journey of discovery," noted Gloria Maxwell in Library Journal, for example, "learning that . . . flamingos form daycare centers." Allport's "writing is clear and often lovely," proclaimed a Publishers Weekly reviewer who thought the work is "occasionally too technical for the average reader." Other reviewers, such as Maxwell and Booklist contributor Nancy Bent, thought the book was very readable. Bent noted "minor mistakes in detail" and wished for more direct citation for particular facts, but the critic concluded that in A Natural History of Parenting "Allport shows how well popular writing can explain science." Discussing the book in Scotsman, Fordyce Maxwell found it occasionally superficial, saying that at times the author seemed to have "skimmed the surface" of her subject "rather than waded through it." Yet Maxwell found much merit in Allport's book, particularly the author's exploration of "the question most human parents have asked themselves at some point in the best of families: why have children? She makes a brave, and entertaining, attempt at the answer."

In The Primal Feast: Food, Sex, Foraging and Love, Allport considers the ways in which food shapes the nature and rhythm of human and animal lives. Her focus is broad, and her book provides, "if not an exploration of the whole feast of nature," at least "a tasty excursion through some of its most intriguing dishes," reflected Susan Lumpkin in Zoogoer. "It will make happy any reader interested in the menu of items in the subtitle: food, sex, foraging, and love—and who isn't interested in at least one of these?" wrote Lumpkin. The reviewer also drew attention to Allport's "thoughtful discussion of food sharing," which examines the importance of food sharing in human relationships. In conclusion, Lumpkin recommended the book as full of "food for thought."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Atlantic Monthly, March, 1991.

Booklist, February 1, 1997.

Boston Magazine, November 30, 1990.

Library Journal, February 1, 1997.

Los Angeles Times, October 28, 1986.

Nature, January, 1987.

New Yorker, January 28, 1991.

New York Times, March 10, 1991.

Publishers Weekly, January 13, 1997.

Scotsman, March 2, 1998, Fordyce Maxwell, review of A Natural History of Parenting, p. 15.

Washington Post Book World, February 22, 1987.

ONLINE

Zoogoer: Friends of the National Zoo,http://www.fonz.org/ (October 15, 2002), Susan Lumpkin, review of The Primal Feast: Food, Sex, Foraging and Love.*