Celestine Sibley

Sibley was born in Holley, Florida. She graduated from high school in Mobile, Alabama, and began her journalistic career writing for the Mobile Press-Register and the Pensacola News Journal.[1][2]

Sibley gained fame as an award-winning reporter, editor, and beloved columnist for the Atlanta Constitution from 1941 to 1999. According to the New Georgia Encyclopedia, "Sibley was one of the most popular and long-running columnists for the Constitution, and her well-written and poignant essays on Southern culture made her an icon in the South."[1][2] In addition to her column, she covered Georgia politics along with many high-profile court cases. She also wrote 25 books, both nonfiction and fiction, including mystery novels.[1][4]

She covered the Georgia General Assembly as a reporter from 1958 to 1978.[2] In 2000, after her death, the press gallery in the Georgia House of Representatives was named in her honor.[5] She won the first Townsend Prize for Fiction in 1982 for her book Children, My Children.[6] After an illness, Sibley died, age 85, at her beach house on Dog Island, Florida.[3]

Sibley's granddaughter, Sibley Fleming, wrote a book about her grandmother, Celestine Sibley: A Granddaughter's Reminiscence (2000).

Celestine Sibley and Sibley Fleming co-edited a collection of Sibley's writings, The Celestine Sibley Sampler: Writings & Photographs With Tributes to the Beloved Author and Journalist (1997).

• The Malignant Heart, Doubleday (New York City), 1957.
• Peachtree Street, U.S.A.: An Affectionate Portrait of Atlanta, Doubleday, 1963; reprinted as Peachtree Street, U.S.A.: A Personal Look at Atlanta and Its History, Peachtree Publishers (Atlanta), 1994.
• Christmas in Georgia, Doubleday, 1964.
• A Place Called Sweet Apple, Doubleday, 1967.
• Dear Store: An Affectionate Portrait of Rich's, Doubleday, 1967.
• Especially at Christmas, Doubleday, 1969.
• Mothers Are Always Special, Doubleday, 1970.
• The Sweet Apple Gardening Book, Doubleday, 1972.
• Day by Day with Celestine Sibley, Doubleday, 1975.
• Small Blessings, Doubleday, 1977.
• Jincey, Simon & Schuster (New York City), 1979.
• The Magical Realm of Sallie Middleton, Oxmoor House (Birmingham, AL), 1980.
• Children, My Children, Harper (New York City), 1981.
• Young 'Uns: A Celebration, Harper, 1982.
• For All Seasons, Peachtree Publishers, 1984.
• Turned Funny: A Memoir, Harper, 1988.
• Christmas in Georgia, Peachtree Publishers, 1985.
• Tokens of Myself, Longstreet Press, 1990.

• Three awards from Associated Press for news stories[1]
• Two awards from Georgia Conference on Social Work for stories contributing to human welfare[1]
• Radio and television awards from Pall Mall[1]
• Awards from Dixie Council of Authors and Journalists, for Small Blessings[1]
• Green Eyeshadow Award from Sigma Delta Chi[1]
• Posthumously inducted into the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame in 2007.[2]
• Inducted into the Georgia Women of Achievement in 2010.[2]
• Inducted into the Georgia Newspaper Hall of Fame in 2019.[7]

• Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University: Celestine Sibley papers, 1900-1997