columnist
A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Column (newspaper), Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the fo ...
, She is married to Scott Whisnant, the Director of Government Relations for New Hanover Health Network.
Rivenbark resides in
Wilmington, North Carolina
Wilmington is a port city in and the county seat of New Hanover County in coastal southeastern North Carolina, United States.
With a population of 115,451 at the 2020 census, it is the eighth most populous city in the state. Wilmington is the ...
with her husband and daughter, Sophie.
Journalism career
Rivenbark graduated from college and started working for ''The Wallace Enterprise'' in
Wallace, North Carolina
Wallace is a town in Duplin and Pender counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The population was 3,880 at the 2010 census.
The Pender County portion of Wallace is part of the Wilmington Metropolitan Statistical Area.
History
The W. Sto ...
. She later moved to the ''Morning Star'' in Wilmington, where she wrote a humor column. Her column won her a national
health journalism
Medical journalism is news reporting (as opposed to peer-review publication) of medical news and features. Medical journalism is diverse, and reflects its audience. The main division is into (1) medical journalism for the general public, which incl ...
award in addition to some press awards.
Rivenbark also authored weekly humor columns for ''
The Sun News
''The Sun News'' is a daily newspaper published in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, in the United States. It serves the Grand Strand region of South Carolina with a daily circulation of 19,773 and a Sunday circulation of 26,798. It is owned by Chat ...
'' of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. A collection of her columns was published in 2000 by Coastal Carolina Press.
Literary career
Three of Rivenbark's books were nominated for the James Thurber Prize:
* ''Bless Your Heart, Tramp'' in 2001,
* ''We're Just Like You, Only Prettier'' (finalist) in 2004,
* ''Belle Weather: Mostly Sunny with a Chance of Scattered Hissy Fits'' (semi-finalist) in 2006.
In 2004, Rivenbeck's book ''We're Just Like You, Only Prettier'' won the
Southern Book Prize
Pat Conroy Southern Book Prize (formerly the SEBA Book Award and SIBA Book Award) is an literary award given by the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA). It was first awarded in 1999.Summer, Bob (1999). "SEBA presents first book award ...
Nonfiction Book of the Year title. ''Belle Weather: Mostly Sunny with a Chance of Scattered Hissy Fits'' (2006), and ''You Can't Drink All Day If You Don't Start in the Morning'' (2010) were later prize finalists.
''Entertainment Weekly'' Magazine designated Rivenbark's book ''Stop Dressing Your Six-Year-Old Like a Skank'' as 2006's best title. Her book ''You Don't Sweat Much for a Fat Girl'' was a ''New York Times'' bestseller.New York Times bestseller list for September 4, 2011 /ref>
Works
*''Bless Your Heart, Tramp'', 2000
*''We're Just Like You, Only Prettier'', 2004
*''Stop Dressing Your Six-Year-Old Like a Skank'', 2006
*''Belle Weather: Mostly Sunny with a Chance of Scattered Hissy Fits'', 2008
*''You Can't Drink All Day If You Don't Start in the Morning'', 2009
*''You Don't Sweat Much for a Fat Girl: Observations on Life from the Shallow End of the Pool'', 2011
*''Rude Bitches Make Me Tired'', 2013