Susan Hammer was a powerful advocate for arts and culture in Portland and a leader in the legal community in which she worked for over 40 years. She was deeply passionate about the mission of Literary Arts and served as a member of the Board of Directors and the Development Council. She participated in and generously supported all our programming.
In the summer of 2020, while the pandemic was still developing and our community was in a deeply uncertain time, Susan asked to meet with our Executive Director, Andrew Proctor, to discuss the future of Literary Arts. Andrew went to Susan’s home to show her the preliminary slides for our Vision Plan.
After Susan passed away on August 26, 2020, we learned that she had established an Oregon Community Foundation legacy fund to distribute the remainder of her estate to organizations that bring people together in conversation to share experiences, build community, and inspire change. Through work with her advisors, Literary Arts was granted a catalytic, transformational gift of $3 million to launch our Vision Plan Campaign and inspire our community to support the next chapter of the organization.
We are deeply grateful to Susan for her confidence in Literary Arts and this powerful endorsement of our mission. We trust that she would have been proud to see how our community has invested in this project and we are proud to honor Susan’s legacy in the naming of our new headquarters at 716 SE Grand Avenue.
To learn more about how to make a meaningful charitable gift through your estate,
contact Director of Development, Brandon Lenzi, at 971-302-2811 or brandon@literary-arts.org.
Please let us know if you have already or plan to name Literary Arts as a beneficiary in your estate plans; we would be delighted to personally thank you and welcome you to Literary Arts’ Legacy Society.
