Susan Roe Musacchio, formerly Susan L. Kelsey, is an award-winning filmmaker, author, publisher, historian, aviator and public speaker whose career has crossed business, community development, history, environmental advocacy and aviation. She founded LegacyFILM & Publishing in 2000 and is the author of four historical books, including Downtown Lake Forest, West Lake Forest, Legendary Locals of Lake Forest and Billy Caldwell: Chicago and the Great Lakes Trail. Her work as an author and historian has taken her to museums, universities, conferences and community organizations, with appearances ranging from the Lake County Discovery Museum and Elmhurst History Museum to Lake Forest College and Northwestern University’s Block Museum of Art. She also spent part of her career in economic development for the City of Lake Forest, where she worked with entrepreneurs, businesses and community organizations and presented nationally on business acceleration and economic-development initiatives.
Her storytelling eventually expanded from books into documentary film. Her films include The Negotiator: Billy Caldwell, Ouilmette, Pulitzer Trophy: The Third Age of Aviation, Mark McMahon: A Generation of Artists and a growing body of aviation documentaries. Her work has been screened and presented at venues including the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Northwestern University, Lake Forest College and cultural and historical institutions throughout the Midwest. Ouilmette was presented at Northwestern’s Block Museum with a filmmaker discussion, while The Negotiator: Billy Caldwell led to interviews and conversations about Indigenous history across Illinois and Iowa, including an appearance on Iowa Public Radio’s Talk of Iowa and a presentation the City of Council Bluffs key to the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation. She was featured on WGN TV and WTTW.
Today, Susan is founder of Aviatrix Company, combining her background as a third-generation aviator with documentary filmmaking, aviation education and the future of flight. She produces the Electric Aviatrix podcast, creates films about electric aviation and pioneering women in flight, founded an aviation film festival, and continues to speak to aviation, historical and educational audiences. Her writing has also appeared in aviation publications, including The Ninety-Nines magazine. Her career and community leadership have been recognized by "Chicago Woman Magazine as one of 100 Women Making a Difference" and by eVTOL Insights’ Women in AAM Special Report. Across her work in publishing, history, film and aviation, one idea has remained constant: stories from the past can help us understand where we are going next.
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