Susan West Kurz

Susan West Kurz is a Certified Biography Facilitator and President of The Center for Biography and Social Art

Susan was a board member of the Biodynamic Gardening and Farming Association 2012- 2017. She is a renowned holistic beauty expert, co-founder of Dr Hauschka Skin Care Inc. and author of Awakening Beauty the Dr Hauschka Way. Her book has sold 50,000 copies internationally and is translated into four languages. From 1992 to 2006, Susan and her husband Clifford Kurz oversaw the development of Dr Hauschka Skin Care from a modest niche company to what is now recognized as the preeminent holistic skin care brand.

Since her apprenticeship at the Meadowbrook Herb Garden in Richmond Rhode Island in 1972, Susan has been involved with a holistic approach to healing, to business and to bringing Biodynamic agriculture, gardening practices, and Anthroposophy to the public.

Her concern for the plight of the honeybee triggered the idea for Beecoming Sophie, a graphic novel about a young girl adopted from Guatemala who adopts a queen bee and begins a crusade to save the honeybee. The unique approaches suggested in the book for stopping the disappearance of the bees and for protecting our food freedom are based on a biodynamic and Anthroposophic approach to gardening, bee keeping and lifestyle.

The family in Beecoming Sophie is loosely based on Susan’s own family. In 2000, she and her husband Clifford adopted two Guatemalan children—a five -year-old girl named Rossibel and her seven- year-old brother Emilio. Susan and Clifford have watched them grow and flourish with much love, a holistic lifestyle, Waldorf education and healthy food.

Her oldest son, John West from her marriage to actor J.T. Walsh, is Co-Founder of The Guest House is treatment and recovery center for trauma and addiction. Susan volunteers at the center doing healing touch on the horses used for equine therapy.