Susan Mattern is a Southern California-based speaker and the author of Poverty, Chastity & Disobedience: My six years in a Catholic convent and Out of the Lion’s Den, her memoir about a mountain lion attack on her 5-year-old daughter, Laura Small, in an Orange County park in 1986.
POVERTY, CHASTITY & DISOBEDIENCE
My six years in a Catholic convent
Susan Mattern had no problem with most of the vows when she entered the convent. Poverty was easy. She didn’t have any possessions, joining the convent directly from high school. Chastity was no big deal since she hadn’t ever met a boy she liked. But obedience? That was a problem, especially when the rules made no sense. READ MORE >>
OUT OF THE LION’S DEN
A little girl’s mountain lion attack, a mother’s search for answers.
“Out of the Lion’s Den” is the true story of five-year-old Laura Small’s attack in an Orange County, California park.
But it’s not only the story of Laura’s long recovery from brain injuries.
Her parents soon realized that the attack wasn’t just the result of a lone mountain lion. Early morning anonymous phone calls, erasures on police reports, and a California moratorium on killing lions, led a persistent investigator and a brilliant lawyer all the way to a trial against Orange County for negligence. READ MORE >>
“Poverty, Chastity, and Disobedience by Sue Mattern is insightful, delightful and revelatory. Each chapter is a story of Mattern’s experiences in religious life in the late 1960’s, a time of incredible change in the Roman Catholic Church.”
“The depicted daily life of a religious postulant is sometimes shocking, and you find yourself rooting for the author and her partner-in-crime Pam to find a way to break out of their monotony and exert some individuality.”
SUSAN’S BLOG
Lies. And More Lies.
When I was about five years old, I took a beautiful blue crystal rosary from a classmate and told my mom I had "just found it." I got in big trouble for taking it – and for lying about it. I learned then that lying is bad. When I met my husband, years later, the thing...
Flying in Darkness
We left Frankfurt at 10:00 am on a beautiful clear day. Our flight was scheduled to land at JFK in 10 hours and then on to Los Angeles. Because we had booked the flight at the last minute, Don and I had gotten seats in the middle of the airplane. They were all we...
Hell
I, a confirmed atheist, have found the definitive definition of hell. Now, hear me out, please. If there really were a hell, and who knows, maybe there is, I discovered what it would be. We had to cancel our five-week vacation in Europe after one week because of my...
Food Schmood
Do you ever feel you get too much information about food? I might not be an expert on food, but I've had a long relationship with it. And I thought I knew a few things about what to eat and what not to eat. That is, until I find something on the Internet that tells me...
The Front Door
When I taught in a California high school for four years, one of the privileges given to seniors was the permission to use the front entrance to the high school. Freshmen, sophomores, and juniors hated the rule, and complained about it constantly. And they were right....
Pets!
("Ralph and the Lemon Meringue Pie" • Illustration by Heather Small, my daughter-in-law) I've heard that two of the saddest and most depressing things about aging are boredom and lack of companionship. I turned 70 last month, but I've never experienced either one of...