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Debbie M. Rigaud was born in Manhattan,
the third of four daughters. She’s certain her first greeting into this
world was, “A girl…again?” At the time of her birth, her family
lived in Brooklyn. But before Debbie could say “Theodore Aloysius
Huxtable,” the Rigaud ’rents packed up the kids and headed to East
Orange, NJ to break from urban life. (Ha!)
Her parents never
fully transitioned to Jersey living. Hence, her childhood was happily
spent heading back to Brooklyn for doctors’ visits, summer vacations,
ripe plantains—every excuse in the book.
By age four, Debbie
was already reading. When dubious relatives assumed she’d memorized her
story books, little Debbie aced their challenges to read daily
newspapers (“Man—Jumps—Off—Bridge”).
But writing is what
really took her places. In grammar school, she wrote screenplays for
fun, kept a book of poetry and, sneakily passed reams of juicy notes to
her friends during class. An interest in fashion design introduced
Debbie to a love of magazines (Her bedroom closet stayed stacked
with back issues of Elle.). In high school she realized she could
pursue magazine writing as a profession. That’s when she began winning
college scholarship essay contests she’d entered. Inspired by one such
grant awarded by The Star Ledger labeled “For Excellence in
Journalism,” Debbie majored in journalism at Rutgers University.
Her first internship
was with YSB magazine (published by BET) followed by a year at
Entertainment Weekly. From there, she’s worked at/written for
Seventeen, Vibe, Vibe Vixen, Inside TV, Twist,
J-14, CosmoGIRL!, ESSENCE, Heart & Soul, seventeen.com,
and spent two years working for Trace magazine in London,
England. She’s also contributed an essay about the Haitian Revolution to
the anthology Transculturalism.
A few more futile
facts about Debbie: An overprotective upbringing has made her adept at
household/backyard activities like double Dutch, dancing, drawing and
doing drills (i.e., “Boogie Night—my name is Deb, I’m livin’ in the
city” [clap-clap-stomp] “Boogie Night—you mess with me I’ll punch you in
the t----.”) . Of course, it also meant she learned to ride a bike kinda
late and she still can’t swim all that well. Okay, she can’t swim at
all. But she thinks commercial jingles and classic TV show themes should
be karaoke standards.
Today, she’s mostly known as the girl you invite to your barbecue during
a citronella oil shortage. Mosquitoes adore her.
This doting
aunt/newly-married girlie recently jetsetted on an adventure with her
husband. The giddy couple now live in sunny Bermuda. |
