About Susan

Susan Barron

There have been a dozen or so nicknames that have “stuck” to me over the years, and while “Eighty Feet Tall” is not one of them, it is a reflection of a state of mind I experienced while working for the Burning Man Project as one of the aerial boom lift operators for rigging and major art construction on-site before, during, and after the event. Because my background mostly intimated a list of reasons why I couldn’t do something — be who I was and go to a good university, survive an unorthodox upbringing with my compassion intact, have as many wacky jobs, experiences, living arrangements and interesting friends as I’ve had at my age — I decided to focus the name of my production company, which I founded to produce a documentary on the building, burning and disappearance of Black Rock City (which introduced me to the job I held throughout my 7 years of university) so that my family could see that I was actually making something tangible at the fancy art school I was paying my way through — on the act of creating and what I was proud of rather than on my radio handle during my years working with The Man.

Eighty Feet Tall — that’s how high the largest boom I got to operate during my tenure at Burning Man was — and as a result of my work out in the desert, I gained respect from people who might have otherwise seen me as just another girl at Burning Man, and it also meant I didn’t have to waitress my way through college, something I’d already burned myself out on as a teenager working the tables in local topless clubs in my area. Don’t get me wrong; I earned a lot of money and it turned out to be the most celibate and sober 2 years of my life. However, it also took a psychological toll that working in the construction trades didn’t, especially as it helped my dreams of becoming a filmmaker and writer that much easier to come true.

Because of my eclectic background and love of fiction and non-fiction storytelling, you’ll find a lot of different things on this site that demonstrate the things I love, don’t love, and think deserve more attention, whether it’s history, science, literature, pop culture, politics or things that defy any traditional category, and are mostly mentioned because of my own personal take on them. Having a lot of different experiences and also being able to put my ego aside as I fumble through life and learn more and more on my ride on planet Earth has given me a taste of many wonderful, interesting, harrowing, intense, strangely comic and difficult memories in life. I hope you find them thought-provoking, or at least entertaining if nothing else.

Cheers!