I accidentally stumbled on this brief bio of me when searching the Web. Kind of creepy: I have no idea who assembled this information, or how, but it’s accurate (that of course is the creepy part), and it revived a long-forgotten interview conducted years ago, following the release of my first book. I haven’t a clue who initially published the interview, but I thought I did a good job explaining what it is I try to do as a journalist. So here’s the bio of me posted at barnesandnoble.com, credited to an outfit called "Gale Research" (?).

Also, here's a link to Tom Magan's "Seven Questions" site, a favorite interview of mine.

Personal

Born June 20, 1958, in New York, NY, grew up Woodmere, NY. Son of Kenneth (in business), and Naomi (a proofreader) Rivlin. Lives in San Francisco, single.

Education

Northwestern University, B.S., 1980.

Career

Chicago Reader, Chicago, IL, staff writer, 1985-1989; Contra Costa Times, reporter, 1990-1991; East Bay Express, Berkeley, CA, staff writer, 1991-1996. Author Fire on the Prairie (1992), Drive-By (1995), and The Plot to Get Bill Gates (1999). Editor, East Bay Express, 1999; Senior Writer, The Industry Standard, 2000-2001.

Sidelights

Gary Rivlin: "I don't know its source, but tacked above my desk is this quote: `The nonfiction writer's greatest task is to state complex social issues in human terms impossible to ignore.' It's there as a daily reminder so that I never lose sight of why it is I do what I do.

"My motivation in writing Fire on the Prairie: Chicago's Harold Washington and the Politics of Race was simple: I thought the story of Chicago during the Harold Washington years was the perfect vehicle for a lot of things I wanted to say about racial politics in this country. It was a particularly fascinating political time in the life of a particularly intriguing political city. It offered a story line rich with interesting characters and served as the perfect laboratory for examining race and racial politics. The racial fighting in Chicago was more charged than in other locales--the politics more polarized--but that meant a sharper lens for focusing on issues at work everywhere in our political culture.

"I see myself as a storyteller first and foremost. Yet I have as little patience for good writing devoid of content as I do for turgid political tracts that require determination and perseverance to finish. By introducing the reader to certain representative characters--learning what makes them think the way they do, and thereby revealing their philosophy--I hope to present the political analysis in an easy-to-digest format. I don't tell stories just to tell stories: there's always some issue, or issues, that I'm trying to highlight.

"I can't say for certain what drew me to nonfiction writing. I've told myself that I became a writer because it allows me to constantly learn and grow, but I'm sure my motivations are deeper than that, rooted in some psychological desire or need to communicate and be understood. I suppose the short answer to the question of how I ended up a writer is that I stuck with it."

"Gary Rivlin saw clearly what other journalists were blind to, and reported what they had non-reported. He was to the Chicago political scene what I.F. Stone was to the national picture."

-Leon Despres, The Chicago Sun-Times

Gerald Loeb Award for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism, 2001

Carl Sandburg Award for Non-Fiction, 1992, Fire on the Prairie

Chicago Sun-Times's Non-Fiction Book of the Year, 1992, Fire on the Prairie

California Newspaper Publishers' Association, best writer for a non-daily newspaper, 1993

San Francisco Bay Area Media Alliance's "Print Journalism" prize, 1993

Society for Professional Journalists, Best Enterprise reporting, 1993

Non-fiction finalist, Pen-WEST's "Best of West," 1995, Drive-By

San Francisco Bay Area Book Reviewers Association non-fiction book of year, finalist, 1995, Drive-By

New York Times Notable Book of the Year, 1995, Drive-By

California Bar Association's "Gold Medallion" award, 1996