Suzy McDermaid was born in Long Beach, California and grew up in Whittier. She holds a BA in Dance from UCLA where she taught, choreographed and performed with the UCLA Dance Company for three years.

In 1969 she moved to New York City to study dance with Alwin Nikolais and Murray Louis and three months later, packed her bags to leave for her first European tour with the Nikolais Dance Theatre Company. She stayed with Nik for nine years, performing in twelve foreign tours and over forty US tours.

Suzy has received plaudits and awards throughout the world, including a Best Performance Award at the Edinburgh (Scotland!) Festival and a Special Award at the Monte Carlo International Festival.

Suzy married Squire Fridell in 1977 and the newlyweds settled on a bi-coastal life. After a couple of years of frequent flying from NYC to LA and LA to NYC, they decided to give up Suzy's cherished (rent-controlled) loft in Manhattan (27th and 7th above the IRT) and take up "permanent" residence in their new home in Sunset Beach, California. Once ensconced in Southern California, she began studying acting and made a career for herself on both stage and in television commercials.  She and Squire became proud parents of their daughter, Alexandra McDermaid Fridell, in 1982.

In 1986, Suzy and Squire decided that The Wine Country might be a wonderful place to raise their three-year old daughter.

Since their move to Glen Ellen, Suzy spent a zillion hours campaigning for school bonds, fund raising for schools, and volunteered for the schools and a myriad of community events. She and Squire were responsible for the construction of both an outdoor and an indoor theatre for two public schools in our Valley and they produced, choreographed, and directed plays in each for years. Suzy and Squire were both recognized and awarded "Volunteers of the Year in Education" for all of Sonoma County and when Suzy’s not at GlenLyon, you'll find her somewhere in the middle of a gaggle of fellow vintner gals, choreographing and performing “Magnum Force” at each year’s annual Sonoma Valley Vintners and Growers Wine Auction. Suzy and Squire were honored to be co-chairs of the Auction a few years back.  (Squire says that Suzy may have been the titular head, but he was the testicular head....)

... more of our Family Clan members