1992 SATW FOUNDATION
LOWELL THOMAS TRAVEL JOURNALISM COMPETITION
The eighth annual competition brought a number of changes, with additional categories and new judges. We expanded to 21 categories.
For travel photography, we started separate categories for newspapers and magazines and for black/white and color in each. We added Self-Illustrated Article for someone who does both the writing and photography. We split the Consumer/Investigative Reporting category into one competition for Travel News/Investigative Reporting, for harder-hitting coverage, and another one for Service-Oriented Consumer Article, more consumer tips, advice, how-to’s. Cultural Tourism became Environmental/Cultural Tourism Article. We dropped Reporting on Economics of Travel.
Monetary awards remained the same: $1,000 to the Travel Journalist of the Year and $500 to the (first) runner-up, with $500 to firstplace winners in other categories but no monetary prize in newspaper section and magazine categories.
The Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University took over the judging, with Prof. Abe Peck as coordinator
Awards For Works Published in 1991
FULL LIST OF AWARDS
Category 1: Grand Award — Lowell Thomas Travel Journalist of the Year
First place: Jim Molnar, The Seattle Times
First runner-up: Jay Clarke, The Miami Herald
Second runner-up: Catherine Watson, Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
Category 2: Newspaper Travel Section
2A: More than 250,000 circulation
First place: Chicago Sun-Times
First runner-up: The Oregonian (Portland)
Second runner-up: Rocky Mountain News
2B: Under 250,000 circulation
First place: Washington Times
First runner-up: Mexico City News
Second runner-up: None
Category 3: Travel Magazine
3A: Monthly
First place: Travel & Leisure
First runner-up: Arizona Highways
Second runner-up: Michigan Living
3B: Non-monthly
First place: Islands
First runner-up: Caribbean Travel & Life
Second runner-up: Endless Vacation
Category 4: Newspaper Article on U.S./Canada Travel
First place: Jean Simmons, “Doing the Charleston,” The Dallas Morning News
First runner-up: Lee Foster, “The Cross-Country Mystique,” Sacramento Bee
Second runner-up: Christopher Corbett, “The Maine Road to Summers Past,” Universal Press Syndicate/The Dallas Morning News
Category 5: Magazine Article on U.S./Canada Travel
First place: Jerry Dunn, “Hollywood in Florida,” National Geographic Traveler
First runner-up: K.M. Kostyal, “Hawaii’s Big Island,” Islands
Second runner-up: Jonathan Auerbach, “Twin Peaks,” Endless Vacation
Category 6: Newspaper Article on Foreign Travel
First place: Millie Ball, “Moscow After the Coup,” New Orleans TimesPicayune
First runner-up: Karen West, “Tending the Family Tree,” The Seattle Times
Second runner-up: Ron Bernthal, “India a Blend of Powerful Images,” Middletown (NY) Sunday Record
Category 7: Magazine Article on Foreign Travel
First place: Michael Balter, “The Channel Islands,” Islands
First runner-up: Tim Cahill, “Chiloe,” Islands
Second runner-up: Pico Iyer, “Indian Summer of Love,” Islands
Category 8: Newspaper Photo Illustration of Travel, black/white
First place: Kit Kittle, “Boardwalk Towns of Jersey/Asbury Park,” The New York Times
First runner-up: Marjorie Rice, “Sailing With Mom,” San Francisco Examiner·
Second runner-up: Tom Reese, “Hong Kong Struggles With Politics, Economy/Young Lovers,” The Seattle Times
Category 9: Magazine Photo Illustration of Travel, Black/white
No entries
Category 10: Newspaper Photo Illustration of Travel, Color
First place: Steve Gilroy, “Zimbabwe/Cape Buffalo and Friends,” Universal Press Syndicate/Arizona Daily Star
First runner-up: Jerry Large, “In Awe of the Wild and Free/Leopard Climbing Tree,” The Seattle Times
Second runner-up: Tim Jewett, “Rafting the Grand Canyon/Crystal Rapid,” Oregonian
Category 11: Magazine Photo Illustration of Travel, Color
First place: Pierre Zabbal, “Murray Bay,” City & Country Home
First runner-up: Pamela Roberson, “Snaking Through a Threatened Eden Called Dominica/Four Carib Girls,” Trilogy
Second runner-up: Kit Kittle, “St. George’s Anglican Church, St. Kitts/Girl on Church Steps,” Travel Holiday
Category 12: Self-Illustrated Article (photos and story by one person)
First place: Sophia Dembling, “An American in Paris,” The Dallas Morning News
First runner-up: Geoffrey James, “The Italian Garden,” City & Country Home
Second runner-up: Dave Bartruff, “The Men Who Mend Mount Rushmore,” The Wor1d & I
Category 13: Article on Land Travel
First place: Jack Sheehan, “The Loneliest Road in America,” Endless Vacation
First runner-up: Len Barnes, “Seeing Eastern Europe the Easy Way,” Michigan Living
Second runner-up: Martin F. Kohn, “The History Trail,” Detroit Free Press
Category 14: Article on Marine Travel
First place: Bill Marsano, “Columbus Expedition,” Conde Nast Traveler
First runner-up: Adele R. Malott, “Freighter Cruising,” Mature Traveler
Second runner-up: Jack Schnedler, “Tackling Tourism’s Final Frontier in Antarctica,” Chicago Sun-Times
Category 15: Article on Adventure Travel
First place: Richard Bangs, “Chasm of Peace,” Sierra
First runner-up: Dewey Schurmann, “Belize: Kayaking the Cays,” Islands
Second runner-up: Anna Marie Lux, “Amazon Adventure,” Janesville Gazette
Category 16: Travel News/Investigative Reporting
First place: Donald D. Groff, “Travel Advisories: Are You Being Told?” Conde Nast Traveler
First runner-up: James Popkin, “Holes in the Security Web,” U.S. News & World Report
Second runner-up: None
Category 17: Service-Oriented Consumer Article
First place: Laura Bly, “Some Bargains Wind Up Being Too Good to be True,” The Orange County Register
First runner-up: Katy Koontz, “VAT: What You Need to Know to Get Your Tax Refunds,” Vacations
Second runner-up: Joy Schaleben Lewis, “Field Trips — Vacationers in the ‘90s Set New Agenda: The Yearn to Learn,” The Miami Herald
Category 18: Environmental/Cultural Tourism Article
First place: Floyd Schneidermann, “First Chorus for ‘Messiah,’” The Oregonian
First runner-up: Adam Nicolson, “A Walk Through Crete,” Islands
Second runner-up: Jerry Nemanic, “People in Paradise: Stan Selengut,” Caribbean Travel & Life
Category 19: Travel Book
First place: Paul Theroux, “To the Ends of the Earth: The Selected Travels of Paul Theroux”
First runner-up: Peter Laufer, “Iron Curtain Rising”
Second runner-up: J. D. Brown, “Digging to China: Down and Out in the Middle Kingdom”
Category 20: Guidebook
First place: Kerry Moran, “Nepal Handbook”
First runner-up: Tom Brosnahan, “La Ruta Maya — Yucatan, Guatemala & Belize: A Travel Survival Kit”
Second runner-up: Lindsy Van Gelder and Pamela Robin Brandt, “Are You Two…Together: A Gay and Lesbian Travel Guide to Europe”
Category 21: Destination Travel on TV, Radio or Video
First place: Gordon Thorne, “Experience Alaska: The Magnificent Passage,” Alaska Sightseeing/Cruise West
First runner-up (tie):
Francis C. Reidelberger, “Israel! A Positive, Modern Look at a Troubled, Ancient Land,” Worldwide Travel Films
Sherilyn Mentes, “The Charm of Holland,” Traveloguer Collection
Special mention: Kaleel Sakakeeny, “Audio Postcards,” National Public Radio
The Society of American Travel Writers Foundation was begun in 1981 by a group of SATW writers, editors and public relations professionals who were concerned about the future of travel journalism.
SATW (the Society of American Travel Writers) is the pre-eminent professional association of travel journalists and communicators. Learn more about this premier networking organization by visiting its website, www.satw.org.
