RHETA GRIMSLEY JOHNSON covered the South for over three decades as a newspaper reporter and columnist, winning several national awards for her reporting, including the Ernie Pyle Memorial Award, the Headliner Award, and the American Society of Newspaper Editors' Distinguished Writing Award. A finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in commentary, Johnson is a member of the Scripps Howard Newspapers Editorial Hall of Fame and the author of several books, including Poor Man's Provence; Hank Hung the Moon and Warmed Our Cold, Cold Hearts; and more. A native of Colquitt, Georgia, she grew up in Montgomery, Alabama, and has lived and worked in the South all her career.