Suzanne Plummer

June 28, 2018 | 826 Blog Post

“Oh, don’t tell me that. Now, I’m nervous.” This was Suzanne’s response when we let her know that our illustrator for a recent Storytelling and Bookmaking field trip was to be our good friend and 826 founder, Dave Eggers. While she has long admired Dave’s work, it is now us who are now in the position of long admiring Suzanne. And we just can’t help it, what with her amazing dedication to the field trips program in Detroit.

Our own “celebrity,” Suzanne Browne Plummer, has been a stalwart volunteer in Detroit since January of 2017–making special appearances on Field Trip mornings that make our students feel extra special. Where does Suzanne get that extra special touch from? Why, she is a former preschool teacher with a passion for English and literature. And, before her current stay in Michigan, she lived in London for ten years, where she saw many, many celebrities that we are all very jealous of: the voice of Scar from the Lion King himself, Jeremy Irons. Famed director, Steven Spielberg. “Downtown” performer, Petula Clark.

Every Wednesday and Friday of this past semester, it has been an absolute delight to watch Suzanne work with groups of students. She shares the same excitement that they do when a creative idea is born, and cheers them on to add more and more detail, like a doughnut-shaped mouse or whatever robot form a character inevitably takes (this year it’s been a lot of robot unicorns).

Imagine what it would be like to have Princess Meghan Markle walk in to your house, once a week, and just cheer you on. That’s what it feels like to work with Suzanne. To all of us at 826michigan and our students, Suzanne is that star that we are honored to work alongside of.


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