Renee Peck (born June Renee Brandt) is an American writer, best known for her weekly column in

The Times-Picayune ''The Times-Picayune , The New Orleans Advocate'' (commonly called ''The Times-Picayune'' or the ''T-P'') is an American newspaper published in New Orleans, Louisiana. Ancestral publications of other names date back to January 25, 1837. The cu ...

titled "This Mold House." Peck spent three-plus decades working as a feature editor and reporter for The New Orleans Times-Picayune, covering everything from food to TV to home and garden.

Early life

Peck was born on December 22, 1953, in Houston, Texas. At the age of 3, she moved to DeRidder, Louisiana, where her mother June West Brandt was from. Peck's family owned the national chain West Brothers, which was started by her grandfather W.D. West. Peck attended highschool at

The Hockaday School The Hockaday School is an independent, secular, college preparatory day school for girls Pre-K through 12 located in Dallas, Texas, United States. The Hockaday School is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Southwest. His ...

in Dallas, Texas, where she graduated in 1971. She graduated magna cum laude from

Kenyon College Kenyon College ( ) is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1824 by Episcopal Bishop Philander Chase. It is the oldest private instituti ...

with a degree in English literature in 1975, where she was a member of

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

. While attending Kenyon, she worked for the

Kenyon Collegian Kenyon College ( ) is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1824 by Episcopal Bishop Philander Chase. It is the oldest private instituti ...

. She met her husband, Stewart F. Peck, attorney at Lugenbuhl, Wheaton, Peck, Rankin, & Hubbar
lawla.com
while attending Kenyon.

Early career

Upon graduation from Kenyon, Peck moved to New Orleans, La., where she took a job as a curatorial assistant for The Historic New Orleans Collection, a regional history museum and research archive on Royal Street in the French Quarter. In 1977, she was hired as the food editor for The States-Item, the afternoon daily newspaper in New Orleans. When The States-Item merged with The Times-Picayune in 1980, she was retained as food editor of the new, larger paper. In a 32-year career as a feature editor and writer at The Times-Picayune, Peck worked in a variety of capacities: as an associate features editor, TV Focus editor (the Sunday TV magazine), Lagniappe editor (the Friday entertainment tab) and InsideOut editor (the Saturday home and garden magazine). She focused on lively, topical subjects intended to explore the quirky lifestyles of New Orleans. She also began the paper's parenting page, Internet page, and worked on a small team tasked to create its first web site.

This Mold House

During Hurricane Katrina's awful wake, Peck was part of the story she was suddenly covering. "My first assignment was a re-entry story," Peck remembers. "What do you do when you're coming back after the flood? Do you need tetanus shots? Do you need hepatitis (shots)? What do you do if there are snakes in the water?" Her answer was to chronicle her own rebuild (her house was destroyed by flooding when the levees breached after the hurricane, then was hit again by a freak tornado in February 2006) in a weekly column called This Mold Hous

She discussed her own problems and emotions during the rebuild in a deeply personal manner, discussing real issues, but through the scope of humor in every situation. In doing so, she made her stories readable while relatable all the while. National media outlets, including

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

, 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 ...

, wrote articles on Peck and her now famous column. For example,

wrote a story on the writer, in an article entitled A City Floods and its Paper Sails

The article described Peck's record popularity, writing "Today, eck'ssection is fat with advertising, a rare example of robust growth in the otherwise moribund newspaper business." Newsweek recognized Peck's unique ability to employ humor in describing her efforts to rebuild. "It requires a certain sense of humor to keep living in the Big Easy," and through that humor, Peck was able to deeply connect with her readers. In noting this, the article wrote: "More remarkable still: people stop her, a newspaper editor, in public to tell her their stories. er weekly columnreally struck a chord with them."

Awards

Peck has received awards from the Associated Press and New Orleans Press Club for service journalism. In 2010, she was granted the McCormick Foundation New Media Women Entrepreneurs award.

NolaVie

Peck is currently the editor for NolaVie, a website featuring life and culture in New Orleans. NolaVie is populated by experienced journalists and members of various cultural organizations and is run by local businesswoman, Sharon Litwin, as well as Renee Peck and a group of editors and writers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Peck, Renee 1953 births Living people Kenyon College alumni Writers from New Orleans Hockaday School alumni