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Susan Baur

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Susan Baur is an American psychologist, author, community activist, and turtle advocate who founded Old Ladies Against Underwater Garbage (OLAUG), a group of volunteers whose members dive to remove litter and preserve aquatic habitats for marine life.[1]

Life and career

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Baur obtained a bachelor's degree in oceanography[2] from Vassar College in 1961.[3] She wrote fiction and nonfiction for children and adults, including four books about freshwater turtles.[4][2] In 1973, she published The Edge of an Unfamiliar World: A History of Oceanography under the name Susan Schlee, receiving the Pfizer Award.[5] In her forties she received a doctorate in psychology from Boston College and worked as a clinical psychologist.[3]

She moved to Chatham on Cape Cod in the early 2000s, where she began swimming in turtle ponds in the area, and then moved to Falmouth, where she published a book about the turtle ponds on the Cape in collaboration with Jill Talladay of Creating A Responsible Environment (CARE).[6]

Activism

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Baur founded Old Ladies Against Underwater Garbage (OLAUG) in 2018[7] to mobilize volunteers to clean Cape Cod ponds and improve turtle habitats,[8] noting that "the greatest underutilized power in the United States is women over 65".[9] Baur told a reporter she "set off in the company of turtles to find a new way to be happy" when she was in her mid-60s.[4] In 2023, she held tryouts for OLAUG, requiring volunteers to swim half a mile in under 30 minutes, finish a mile comfortably, and dive down 8–10 feet.[7]

Baur described the group's impact as promoting team-building and lifting older women's confidence and self-esteem.[10] She noted that some members were motivated by adventure, camaraderie, and concern for the environment.[5] In 2024, Baur's talk show appearance drew tears from host Drew Barrymore.[11] In 2025, the group's dredging of a toilet out of a pond was pictured on the front page of the Boston Globe.[4]

Honors

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Baur was chosen as one of the The Explorers Club's 50 visionaries of 2025 "doing remarkable work to promote science and exploration".[12] Liz McGregor's film Old Ladies Against Underwater Garbage earned honorable mention at the 2026 5Point Adventure Film Festival.[13]

Selected works

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  • Hypochondria: Woeful Imaginings, University of California Press, 1988 ISBN 0-520-06107-1[14]
  • The Dinosaur Man, Tales of Madness and Enchantment From the Back Ward, HarperCollins, 1992 ISBN 978-0060981044[15][16]
  • Confiding: A Psychotherapist And Her Patients Search For Stories To Live By, HarperCollins, 1994 ISBN 0-06-018238-5[17]
  • A Guide to the Best Ponds on Cape Cod, and the Best Ways of Preserving Them, Turtle Press, 2018 ISBN 9780985742454[6]
  • Swimming with Turtles: How Wonder Reconnects Us to the Natural World, University of Massachusetts Press, 2026 ISBN 9781625349545

References

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  1. ↑ Buckley, Cara; Hickey, Billy (2026-07-17), "Taking Out the Trash: These Old Ladies Are Cleaning Up Cape Cod", The New York Times, ISSN 0362-4331, retrieved 2026-07-19
  2. 1 2 Balliett, Jamie (2012-06-03). "Author Susan Baur's second 'turtle' book due this fall". Cape Cod Times. Retrieved 2026-07-19.
  3. 1 2 Brandes, Rebekah (2025-03-02). "Meet the Old Ladies Against Underwater Garbage". Nice News. Retrieved 2026-07-19.
  4. 1 2 3 Choate, Aden (2024-09-25). "A New Way to Be Happy: Fighting Garbage". The Provincetown Independent. Retrieved 2026-07-21.
  5. 1 2 Park, Jo. "Why Do The Old Ladies Jump in the Pond?". cultureroom.theclimatetribe.com. Retrieved 2026-07-21.
  6. 1 2 Briana-Gartner, Joanne (2018-06-17). "Turtle Sisters Author Pens Pond Guide". The Enterprise. Retrieved 2026-08-30.
  7. 1 2 Penman, Maggie (2025-09-04). "At 85, she leads a squad of women who dive deep in ponds for litter". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2026-07-19.
  8. ↑ Ruhalter, Kana; Rath, Arun (2025-01-21). "These 'Old Ladies' are keeping Cape Cod's freshwater ponds clean". GBH. Retrieved 2026-07-19.
  9. ↑ Hugi, Pamela (2025-04-23). "Inspiring Stories: Susan Baur, 85, Saves Turtles from Underwater Garbage". seniorplanet.org. Retrieved 2026-07-19.
  10. ↑ Archacki, Liam. "A Senior Moment". www.readersdigest.in. Retrieved 2026-07-21.
  11. ↑ "Drew Barrymore cries after hearing woman's story about starting an underwater cleanup organization". EW.com. Archived from the original on 2025-02-03. Retrieved 2026-07-19.
  12. ↑ Turek, Susan (2025-04-30). "'Old Ladies' group goes viral for unconventional community project: 'We've got something terrific'". Yahoo Life. Retrieved 2026-07-21.
  13. ↑ O’Clair, Julianna (2026-04-30). "5Point announces 2026 winning films following 19th annual flagship festival". Retrieved 2026-07-19.
  14. ↑ Streitfeld, David (1988-02-26). "HYPOCHONDRIACS THEIR ILL-FATED LIVES". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2026-07-19.
  15. ↑ Kevles, Bettyann (1991-08-06). "BOOK REVIEW : Enchanting Tale of Anguish and Illness : THE DINOSAUR MAN, Tales of Madness and Enchantment From the Back Ward, by Susan Baur". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2026-07-19.
  16. ↑ THE DINOSAUR MAN | Kirkus Reviews.
  17. ↑ CONFIDING | Kirkus Reviews.
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