Susan Kay Finch, an award-winning journalist for nearly 40 years at The States-Item and The Times-Picayune, passed away Jan. 25, 2020, at Passages Hospice in New Orleans of complications from a stroke. She was 74.
Ms. Finch was born March 9, 1945, in San Bernardino, Calif., to Minnie Ruth and X.L. Finch. After graduating from Gulfport High School in Gulfport, Miss., Ms. Finch earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Millsaps College in Jackson, Miss. She furthered her studies in English at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 1967, the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation awarded her a fellowship.
In the early years of her career, she worked as a copywriter for The Sazerac Company in New Orleans, where she created newspaper and mail-order ads and developed promotional materials such as giveaways and sales booklets.
Her newspaper tenure began at The Daily Comet in Thibodaux, where she was a reporter-photographer. Then in 1972, she joined The States-Item. She spent 37 years at the Item and The Times-Picayune, where she earned a reputation as a tough but fair reporter who was recognized for her diligence locally and nationally.
She won numerous honors, particularly for investigative reporting, including the Selden Ring Award in 1995 for uncovering political corruption in Louisiana’s gambling industry; the Gerald Loeb Award; the Press Club of New Orleans Investigative Award; and many commendations from the Louisiana Press Association. She also won an award from LPA for photography.
In addition to reporting on the gambling industry, Ms. Finch was most proud of these stories: a 1993 retrospective on the deadly Upstairs Lounge fire in 1973, “a tragedy that united the gay community’’; reports that chronicled the integration of Carnival krewes; and trial coverage of preacher Marvin Gorman’s defamation lawsuit against televangelist Jimmy Swaggart.
Ms. Finch was part of The Times-Picayune team that covered Hurricane Katrina from the newspaper’s Howard Avenue headquarters until floodwaters forced reporters and editors to relocate to Baton Rouge to cover the storm’s aftermath. Like many of her colleagues, she was displaced when her home suffered damage. While Ms. Finch and many journalists commuted to New Orleans to chronicle the rebuilding effort, their work won acclaim when the staff was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service and Breaking News in 2006.
Ms. Finch was preceded in death by her parents; her sister, Carolyn Finch; and nephews Craig and Christopher.
Survivors include her family, Danelle Fleming, her partner of 25 years; Ms. Fleming’s daughter, Jessica Mehrtens; a niece, Kelli Weathers of Baltimore; and a nephew, Carl Michalowski of Baltimore.
A celebration of life will be held Saturday, Feb. 8, 2020 at 12 p.m. at Lake Lawn Metairie Funeral Home, 5100 Pontchartrain Blvd., New Orleans. Visitation will begin at 10 a.m.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to PFLAG New Orleans Scholarship Program at P.O. Box 15515, New Orleans, Louisiana, 70175 or the Louisiana SPCA.
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