Gary Rivlin (born June 20, 1958) is an American journalist and author. He has worked for several different publications, including the ''

Chicago Reader The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. The ''Reader'' has been ...

'', the '' Industry Standard'', and the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. Rivlin grew up in North Woodmere, New York, and graduated from George W. Hewlett High School and

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

. He lives in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

with his wife, theater director Daisy Walker, and two sons. In addition to his work in journalism, Rivlin has written nine books. His first book, published in 1992, ''Fire on the Prairie: Chicago's Harold Washington and the Politics of Race'', was a book about Chicago area politics that won the Carl Sandburg Award for best non-fiction book of the year. His second book, ''Drive By'', was published in 1995 while he worked for the ''

East Bay Express The ''East Bay Express'' is an Oakland-based weekly newspaper serving the Berkeley, Oakland and East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. It is distributed throughout Alameda County and parts of Contra Costa County every Wednesday. Th ...

,'' where he served as a staff writer and then executive editor. The book was inspired by the drive-by shooting of 13-year-old Kevin Reed in

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

in 1990. Rivlin examined, as he put it, "the human side of this country's youth violence epidemic." Rivlin then wrote two books about technology, ''The Plot to Get Bill Gates'' and ''The Godfather of Silicon Valley''. He won two

Gerald Loeb Awards The Gerald Loeb Awards, also referred to as the Gerald Loeb Awards for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism, is a recognition of excellence in journalism, especially in the fields of business, finance and the economy. The award was e ...

honoring excellence in business journalism: he earned the 2001 award in the Magazines category for the story "AOL's Rough Riders", and the 2005 award in the Deadline Writing category for the story "End of an Era". In 2010, he published ''Broke, USA: From Pawnshops to Poverty, Inc. — How the Working Poor Became Big Business'', which ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

James Surowiecki James Michael Surowiecki ( ; born April 30, 1967) is an American journalist. He was a staff writer at ''The New Yorker'', where he wrote a regular column on business and finance called "The Financial Page". Background Surowiecki was born in Meri ...

described as a "blistering new investigation of the subprime economy." In it, Rivlin explored how payday lenders,

pawn shops A pawnbroker is an individual that offers secured loans to people, with items of personal property used as collateral. A pawnbrokering business is called a pawnshop, and while many items can be pawned, pawnshops typically accept jewelry, ...

, and check cashers exploit the impoverished in the United States. Despite attempting to remain objective, he sided with the activists who tried to rein in on the most usurious practices. In 2015, he published ''Katrina: After the Flood'', about the immediate and long-term effects of

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

on the City of New Orleans.

Bibliography

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References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rivlin, Gary 1958 births Living people 20th-century American non-fiction writers American male journalists Northwestern University alumni George W. Hewlett High School alumni People from North Woodmere, New York 21st-century American non-fiction writers Writers from New York (state) 20th-century American male writers American male non-fiction writers Gerald Loeb Award winners for Deadline and Beat Reporting Gerald Loeb Award winners for Magazines 21st-century American male writers