Susan Allen Toth was educated at Smith College, the University of California at Berkeley, and the University of Minnesota. She has taught at Macalester College in St. Paul as well as at San Francisco State College and the University of Iowa. Toth’s memoirs reveal her lifelong love of literature, including a switch from a history to an English major while in college.
Toth’s first book, a memoir entitled Blooming: A Small-Town Girlhood, was published in 1981 and tells of her growing up years, from childhood to college. She has since contributed work to many magazines and newspapers, traveled widely, and published numerous books of memoir and travel writing including My Love Affair with England: A Traveler’s Memoir, Leaning Into the Wind: A Memoir of Midwest Weather, and No Saints Around Here: A Caregiver’s Days, which chronicles Toth’s in-home care of her husband who suffered from Parkinson’s Disease and dementia.