A number of years ago, Susan Tromanhauser came across a website called Humans of New York (HONY).
HONY is a massively popular photoblog and storytelling platform created by photographer Brandon Stanton in 2010. What started as an attempt to photograph 10,000 random New Yorkers has evolved into a global phenomenon, featuring intimate portraits and deeply personal anecdotes from everyday people across the globe.
Tromanhauser loved how each post featured not only a candid street portrait, but quotes or short stories from the subjects, ranging from humorous and quirky to profoundly heartbreaking and inspiring.
“I thought it was fascinating because it was regular people telling their stories and everybody had a different story,” Tromanhauser told The Highlander in a recent interview.
The former freelance writer for regional magazines in the Niagara Region, who made the County her full-time home during COVID, thought, “I could do this here.”
She then began pondering where the stories might be published and sent an email to The Highlander, to see if the paper was interested in running a Humans of Haliburton Highlands column. It was. Fast forward to 2026, and Tromanhauser recently published a collection of those columns in book form. She will be launching it at Corner Gallery, at 123 Maple Ave., Haliburton on June 6.
She said another motivator for launching the column was that even though she had been coming to the family cottage in Algonquin Highlands for 30 years, she didn’t know a lot of locals.
“Saying that I have a column gave me permission to go up to people and ask them questions,” she quipped.
“Because everybody I meet does have a story.”
Tromanhauser is out and about and not afraid to approach complete strangers at events. She’ll strike up a conversation. When she gets a response, she’ll mention her column and ask if the person wouldn’t mind being interviewed. She said that 80 per cent of the time, the subject says ‘yes’, although inevitably “everybody says ‘I don’t have anything to say. I don’t have a story’.” However, they usually do. She has some standard questions, such as where people are from, and how they came to be in the Highlands, why they stay, anything they miss about elsewhere. “Somewhere in those questions, it goes in a different direction.”
She said writing the column gives her a sense of accomplishment. So has publishing her first-ever book. “Because I do like to write, and I like to have a purpose to write. So, it gives me a purpose and it gives me a deadline.”
She is also conscious of her subjects, saying, “I’m hoping when they read it in the paper, they feel a sense of accomplishment in what they’ve done. Because sometimes people are too busy living their lives, they don’t see it.”
She recalls how her love of writing came in Grade 2 when the students were introduced to new words. They were shown a photo and had to write a story using those words. Tromanhauser loved it. “I could not wait… since then, I’ve always wanted to write a book.”
She also takes part in a writers’ group organized by Sue Reynolds of Stone’s Throw Publications. Lots of authors were talking about publishing and she thought, “if they can do it, why not me?”
The launch will be from 1-3 p.m. There will be a Q and A with Tromanhauser followed by mingling and snacks.
