August 30, 2000

Savage survivor story

Former TC resident wins survival contest

By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
       Susan Owen has the right stuff.
      The Seattle resident recently took first place in a radio contest that pitted her ingenuity, persistence and will against nine others to see who would survive being cooped up together in a small camper. Given minimal food and supplies, which included just one roll of toilet paper per camper and no personal care items, the contestants vied for a prize of $7,500.
      While that sum was a little short of the $1 million Richard Hatch recently took home for outlasting his island companions on the like-minded TV show "Survivor," the Seattle contestants took their two-week battle just as seriously. Competition at team and individual challenges and shifting alliances at voting time kept the audience city-wide glued to the radio dial and the live Internet webcam.
      Realizing the interest of viewers and listeners became a strategy for Owen, who used her lively and gregarious nature to her advantage.
      "Part of the game was keeping the people on the web audience entertained because that helped when it came down to voting," said Owen, a Traverse City native and graduate of Traverse City Senior High in 1979. "Boredom was the most difficult thing for me so I invented a lot of games and we all talked a lot."
      Calling herself a mix of outrageous and responsible behavior, Owen moved to Seattle with her two children six years ago. She had lived and worked in Traverse City her whole life, including a 15-year stint at the Holiday Inn, and was ready for a change of scene. In what she terms typical Susan Owen fashion, she picked up stakes and moved across the country not knowing anyone or having a job. She quickly landed on her feet and has worked as a project manager for a high-tech company for six years.
      And in a large city she has found her place.
      "I had the same behavior when I lived in Traverse City but when I did something outrageous everybody and their brother found out about it," said Owen, who took up soccer in her 30s and recently learned to drive a motorcycle. "It is a lot more conservative area. Out here people think it is wonderful if you step out of your boundaries; it is much more anonymous."
      As for her parents, Bob and Judy Owen of Traverse City, her latest incarnation as a survivor was par for the course and, after the fact, they are proud of her effort.
      "When she told me about being in this, she said, 'You know, Mom and Dad, I've done a lot of stupid things, wait until you hear the latest,'" recalled Bob Owen. "At first I didn't think she would win but after I thought about it for 24 hours I decided she had the drive and guts to do it."
      Owen's guts to at least enter the contest were shared by more than 1,200 other people. As the competition was winnowed down to the final 20, she was faced with a talent contest that had to capture the audience's vote. She put on a leg-wrestling show and won a slot, earning the on-air nickname 'Spank Me Susan' in the interim. She was the only mother and the only person over 30 who became a finalist.
      Once chosen, the ten contestants had fewer than two days to prepare, not too difficult of a task since they could bring only the clothes they were wearing and a toothbrush.
      On the first day, the ten people were divided into two groups, called tribes, and each tribe was assigned a camper parked in the radio station's parking lot. The tribes faced each other in challenges over the next week, slowly eliminating most of the members. During that time, contestants survived on a diet of white bread or bagels, bananas and peanut butter, although Owen's tribe earned a restaurant visit and a case of warm beer by winning some challenges.
      The four final survivors were then combined into one trailer for the duration. With subtle maneuvering and good spirits, Owen outlasted all the others and triumphed at the end by beating an Army guy on an orienteering quest back to the radio station. When she walked into the studio first that final morning she was a little bit richer and had made some good friends.
      To what does Owen attribute her triumph?
      "I think being a single mom gave me a lot of character to endure in there," she noted. "Also I think all my experience in customer service and management helped me win because my people skills helped me identify what made people tick."