After 18 years as society columnist at the Houston Chronicle, Shelby Hodge jumped ship in October 2009 to join CultureMap as Editor-at-Large.

While at the Chronicle, she covered a variety of subjects from Presidential inaugurations in Washington D.C. to travels of the British Royal family in the U.S. Her main area of expertise was and continues to be Texas society — the black tie galas, the fancy weddings, the swell parties. But since joining CultureMap she has expanded her writing repertoire to include a variety of subjects of interest to Houstonians — business, design, a bit of politics and breaking news when she gets the scoop on a hot happening.

Shelby is a native of Baton Rouge, La., and a journalism graduate from LSU.