Jennifer Grant asked her NSNC friends to give their opinions regarding a book trailer created by a friend at loudtoast.com for her upcoming novel “Love You More” published by Thomas Nelson Pub. and available August 2011 . Following the invisible thread of connection between people who are seemingly intended to become family, journalist Jennifer Grant shares the deeply…
Don McNay, former member of the NSNC board, and award-winning financial columnist, announced his plans to marry in the Huffington Post last week, shunning advice in HuffPo from Dr. Neil Clark Warren, the founder of eHarmony. After the proposal in Louisville, KY, Don shared the details of the event in his blog. Don wrote out…
NSNC founder Larry Maddry sent the board a very nice letter of thanks for his Legacy Award. The letter is below and the original will go in the NSNC archives. Larry is a now-retired Norfolk (Va.) Virginian-Pilot columnist. (History of NSNC) . Big Bob Hill presents Legacy Awards Maddry founded/organized the National Society of Newspaper…
Conference Chair Brian O’Connor in a conference recap at the annual membership meeting reported that the Detroit conference finished in the black. The effect of the downturn in the economy has been felt in conference attendance by many organizations. O’Connor emphasized the need for a committee of members to manage various aspects of the conference…
Best-selling author Jeffrey Zaslow has snared another fantastic book deal. He will assist Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., and her husband, recently retired astronaut Mark Kelly, in telling the story of their life before and since the January shooting rampage in Tucson in which she suffered a severe head wound. NASA astronaut and Navy Capt. Mark…
Larry Cohen, a familiar face at many conferences, is NSNC’s new Vice President. He was elected at the general membership meeting which closed the 35th annual conference in Detroit. Cohen will fill out the term of Karen Rinehart, who stepped down for personal reasons. He and others on the nominating committee’s slate of officers were…
Government Can Seize Your Land to Build Nuke Plant An AP investigative series shows that up to 3/4 of all Nukes pose potential health problems. The problem is even more acute with Nukes that are near the end of their 40-year projected life cycle. There was a recent meltdown of a plant in Japan, the…
EDITORIAL Detroit, Survivor of Hard Knocks By Sheila Moss, NSNC WebEditor “People who visit Detroit see only the bad things — tell them about the good things too,” said our conference host. This editorial is not about the NSNC Conference, which was wonderful and inspiring, but it is about the city that many do not…
Below are links to articles in the top media about the National Society of Newspaper Columnists’ 2011 conference or the 2011 column contest. The list will be updated. In a few days, another list will be begun with links to columns and blogs written by conferees themselves. Conference National Society of Newspaper Columnists Coming Here…
A full and busy day of conference activities concluded Saturday night with the presentation of the Lifetime Achievement award to Roger Ebert, who appeared live from Chicago via Skype. The NSNC Ernie Pyle Lifetime Achievement Award is given yearly to honor a columnist who exemplifies outstanding achievement. It is the NSNC organization’s highest honor. Roger…
DETROIT, Saturday, June 25, 2011 – “The Body Politic” is the winner of the 2011 Sitting Duck Award of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. “Our public servants have been abusing their franking privilege,” said Ben S. Pollock, president of the NSNC, which gives this award annually to an easy target for columnists on a…
DETROIT, Saturday, June 25, 2011 — In a survey of columnists nationwide, the top American column in history was typed up by the late, great Ernie Pyle. Pyle’s “The Death of Captain Waskow” first was published Jan. 10, 1944, by his syndicate, Scripps Howard. John Avlon, senior political columnist for Newsweek-The Daily Beast, created the…
Luellen Smiley, NSNC member, is the daughter of reputed mobster, Allen Smiley, who was a close friend and confidant of famous Las Vegas mobster Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel and was just feet away from Siegel the night he was murdered. She has been a columnist since 2004 when she began writing a weekly column in San Diego called “Smiley’s Dice.”…
In the annual Pennsylvania Press Club competition, Walter M. Brasch took 1st place in features; 2nd in environmental writing; and 2nd for his syndicated newspaper column, Wanderings. In addition, Brasch and his wife, Rosemary, took 2nd place in specialty articles/labor and business. Brasch recently retired as professor of mass communications/journalism at Bloomsburg University, but is…
Suzette Martinez Standring is now writing a humor column for The Milton Patch, “The Funny Side of the Street.” The Milton Patch is part of AOL’s national network of on-line local newspapers. She continues to write her syndicated religion column for GateHouse News Service. Suzette also landed an agent, Rita Rosenkranz of the Rita Rosenkranz…
Congratulations to NSNC members Mary Curtis, Philip Martin, Mike Argento and Roger Ebert for being named winners in The Society for Features Journalism 23rd Annual Excellence-in-Features Writing Competition. Contest categories included general features, short features, features specialty reporting, general commentary, arts and entertainment coverage, blogging, reader engagement and multimedia storytelling. First place winners in each…
Los Angeles columnist and NSNC member Patrick Caneday has just published his first book. Crooked Little Birdhouse: Random Thoughts on Being Human is a collection of Caneday’s “Small Wonders” columns that have appeared in the Glendale News Press and Burbank Leader. But, with the addition of a series of previously unpublished, lengthier essays, he explores…
