2020-21 SATW Foundation Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Competition
117 Short Work on Travel ( Newspapers,Travel Magazines,Travel Coverage in General Magazines,Travel Audio-Radio,Travel Audio-Podcasts and Guides)Back
Place Name: First Place Contestant Name: Leigh Ann Henion Entry Title: Athens's Tree of the People: On being the forest for the tree Entry Credit: Leigh Ann Henion Judge Comment: This fresh travel story is about a tree that stands in the middle of a road in Athens, Georgia. Rather than a travel nuisance with citizens clamoring for its removal, this oak is worshipped by many who care for it or make pilgrimages offering flowers and mulch. With a reverential tone, Leigh Ann Henion blends good storytelling with place. The message she offers – “that we are not separate from our environment” – is a lesson for now.
Place Name: Second Place Contestant Name: Sebastian Modak Entry Title: "Postcard From New York, or, Searching for Home in Any Old Bar" Entry Credit: Sebastian Modak Judge Comment: Using narrative style, Sebastian Modak recalls his yearlong, 120,000-mile journey and a “trick” he used to make himself feel at home wherever he was in the world. He’d walk into a nondescript local bar and “imagine” he was a local. Upon his return to New York, he began visiting the favorite haunts he missed while away. Then the pandemic hit, and one after the other closed. In a personal and affecting way, Modak sums up the experience of so many and what has been tragically lost.
Place Name: Third Place Contestant Name: Travel + Leisure Entry Title: Power Moves Entry Credit: Stephanie Elizondo Griest Judge Comment: Stephanie Elizondo Griest grew up in Texas all but ignoring her Mexican roots. That is, until she quit her job and moved to Querétaro to reconnect. A chance encounter found her admiring a dozen women in their radiant outfits practicing baile folklórico (folk dance). The youthful experience stayed with her, and in this charming, vivid tale she traces the history of folklórico, weaving in her regret of going to language classes instead of being on the dance floor where she could honor her heritage and “soar like a hawk as my feet thundered beneath me.”
Place Name: Honorable Mention Contestant Name: Sallie Lewis Entry Title: Robert Smithson's Iconic 'Spiral Jetty' Celebrates 50th Anniversary Entry Credit: Sallie Lewis Judge Comment: In 1970 artist Robert Smithson laid 6,000 tons of rocks in a spiral pattern at the edge of the Great Salt Lake, perhaps underestimating its fate. The earth work was submerged for decades and then reappeared. This marvel that has attracted the eyes and minds of the world turned 50 in 2020. Writer Sallie Lewis celebrates its longevity with a well-written tribute that highlights the spiral’s ability to bring people to these shores to examine the lake’s plight and the devastating effects of climate change. Here the power of art and words merge.
