Susan Beschta

Susan Marie Beschta (April 21, 1952 – May 2, 2019), who performed as Susan Springfield, was the founder and lead singer of Erasers, a band that headlined at CBGB in the 1970s.[1]

Susan Springfield
Performing at CBGB in 1978
Born
Susan Marie Beschta

(1952-04-21)April 21, 1952
Appleton, Wisconsin, U.S.
DiedMay 2, 2019(2019-05-02) (aged 67)
Other names
  • Susan Springfield
  • Susan Beschta-Springfield
Occupation
  • Artist
  • singer
  • lawyer
Years active
  • 1970–80s (art/music)
  • 1990–2019 (law)
Children
  • Thando Marshall
  • Vuyisile Jamal
  • Layla Marie
Musical career
GenresPunk rock
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • guitar
Associated actsErasers

She became a solo artist in the 1980s and then trained as a lawyer to start a new career as a lawyer, and eventually an immigration judge.[2] After graduating from the CUNY School of Law, she fought human rights cases for Catholic Charities.[2]

Early life and education

She was born Susan Marie Beschta on April 21, 1952 in Appleton, Wisconsin – one of five children of a Catholic couple, Gerald and Jean Beschta.[3] The culture was traditional and her father was keen on sports but, while she was fond of the place, she chose a different path.[3] After college at University of Wisconsin–Whitewater, she went to the hippy scene of California and then hitch-hiked across the country to study fine arts at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn where she hoped to become a painter.[3]

Art and music

Beschta was able to stay rent-free at the Fine Arts Building at 232 East 59th Street in return for looking after its photo gallery.[4] She shared a loft with Jane Fire and they formed Erasers, a punk-rock band, in 1974, with Fire on drums and Beschta as the singer/songwriter and guitarist.[4] Several musicians such as Richie Lure and Anton Fig tried out with the band and the most lasting were Jody Beach on bass guitar and David Ebony, a classically-trained musician.[4]

The band practised in the basement of a deli near the Fine Arts Building and they played some impromptu gigs in the street there.[4] They performed at venues including The Great Gildersleeve's and, most especially, CBGB, which was a famous proving ground for punk rock bands.[4] Their style was enthusiastic, feminist and non-commercial.[4] They attracted some favourable reviews but did not sign with a record label.[4]

Beschta was influential in the social scene of punk rock, entertaining stars like Johnny Rotten and Iggy Pop and dating Richard Hell.[2][5][6] In 1978, she starred with Debbie Harry in Amos Poe's movie The Foreigner.[5] After the Erasers, she performed in other bands and artistic projects including the Susan Springfield Band, Desire and Civilization and the Landscape of Discontent.[4][7]

Lawyer and judge

Beschta earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1976 from Pratt Institute and a Juris Doctor in 1989 from the City University of New York School of Law. She was a member of the New York State Bar. In 2002, she joined the Department of Homeland Security while still reportedly volunteering for causes including ACT UP and Code Pink.[2] From 2002-18, she served as an assistant chief counsel and deputy chief counsel with the Office of the Chief Counsel, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security in New York. From 2000-02, she was an associate with Bretz & Coven LLP, also in New York. From 1991 to 2000, she was a staff attorney and later a senior attorney with Immigration and Refugee Services for Catholic Charities, also in New York. In 2018, she was sworn in as an immigration judge.[3][8]

Death

Beschta died on May 2, 2019, at the age of 67 in hospice care in Manhattan, New York City, of brain cancer.[2]

References
  1. Rockwell, John (February 27, 1978), "Erasers, Rock Band, At CBGB's", New York Times, archived from the original on June 3, 2019, retrieved June 3, 2019
  2. Williams, Alex (May 10, 2019), "Susan Beschta, Punk Rocker Turned Judge, Is Dead at 67", New York Times, archived from the original on June 7, 2019, retrieved June 3, 2019
  3. "Susan Beschta", The Times, p. 48, June 3, 2019, archived from the original on June 3, 2019, retrieved June 3, 2019
  4. Skolnik, Jes (January 13, 2016), "The Forgotten Women of Punk: CBGB Vets The Erasers on Their Radically Populist Art-Punk", Flavorwire, archived from the original on May 17, 2019, retrieved June 10, 2019
  5. Blush, Steven (2016), "The Music", New York Rock: From the Rise of The Velvet Underground to the Fall of CBGB, St. Martin's Press, p. 200, ISBN 9781250083623
  6. Nichols, David (2011), The Go-Betweens, Verse Chorus Press, p. 139, ISBN 9781891241901
  7. Alison Pearlman (2003), Unpackaging Art of the 1980s, University of Chicago Press, p. 195, ISBN 9780226651453
  8. Susan M. Beschta, Immigration Judge, New York City Immigration Court, U.S. Department of Justice, November 16, 2018, archived from the original on May 12, 2019, retrieved June 10, 2019
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