Orlean is the author of several books, including The Orchid Thief, a profile of Florida orchid grower, breeder, and collector John Laroche.
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The book formed the basis of Charlie Kaufman's script for the Spike Jonze film Adaptation. Orlean (portrayed by Meryl Streep in an Oscar-nominated role) was, in effect, made into a fictional character; the movie portrayed her as becoming Laroche's lover and partner in a drug production operation, in which orchids were processed into a fictional psychoactive substance.
Susan Sarandon | Susan Sontag | Susan B. Anthony | Susan G. Komen for the Cure | Susan Tedeschi | Susan Collins | Susan Ashton | Susan Roces | Susan Glaspell | Susan Stroman | Susan Kare | Susan Hayward | Susan Haack | Susan Sheridan | Susan Lucci | Susan Werner | Susan Sullivan | Susan Oliver | Susan Love | Susan Dey | Susan Cooper | Susan Blackwell | Susan Reynolds | Susan Raye | Susan P. Crawford | Susan Maughan | Susan Ivanova | Susan Hill | Susan Estrich | Susan Crowe |
Many noted journalists have been Nieman Fellows, including John Carroll, Dexter Filkins, Susan Orlean, Robert Caro, Hodding Carter, Michael Kirk, Alex Jones, Anthony Lewis, Robert Maynard, Allister Sparks, Stanley Forman, Hedrick Smith, Lucia Annunziata, Jonathan Yardley, and Philip Meyer.
The Orchid Thief is a 1998 non-fiction book by American journalist and author Susan Orlean, based on her investigation of the 1994 arrest of John Laroche and a group of Seminoles in south Florida for poaching rare orchids in the Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve.