UW–Madison alumna Susan Solie Patterson — who earned her bachelor’s degree in 1979 and her MFA in 1982 — is featured in the latest issue of Badger Insider, where she reflects on her journey from UW art student and All-American swimmer to best-selling author and advocate for literacy.
In a Q&A, Solie Patterson also shares several books and authors that hold special meaning for her.
A double graduate of the School of Education’s Art Department, Solie Patterson studied photography and printmaking. She then built a successful career in advertising, becoming an art director and senior vice president at major international agencies.
Her creative instincts later converged with those of her husband, novelist James Patterson, as the pair co-authored their first book together, “Big Words for Little Geniuses.”
“It was everything that I had studied and loved in college,” she says. “Everything that I did in getting my master’s degree went into that book.”
Today, the couple continues to write together and to support initiatives that promote literacy and a love of reading. “As I’ve gotten older, and then had a child, I’ve realized the incredible value and importance of being a good reader,” Solie Patterson says. “It touches so many different things in your life.”
Read the full Badger Insider feature: “Well-Read: Susan Solie Patterson ’79, MFA’82”