SATW 2008 Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism award winners

Congrats to all the winners of the 2008 Society of American Travel Writers Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Competition!

We’re happy for our friends and colleagues — and (ahem) thrilled that the Los Angeles Times Travel section was recognized too. Winner Catharine Hamm, L.A. Times Travel editor, eloquently described the awards as “our Pulitzer.”

Scanning the list to see who’s hot is cool, but reading the actual work that won gold is even more rewarding so we’ve linked you up to many of the individual gold medal winners below. Here are the judges’ comments on their 2008 selections and the full list of runner-up and honorable mention winners.

[Note to winners: If your award-winning material is online and we've missed your link, please let us know in the Comment section after the jump. Where we could not find the original story, we've linked to the publication's homepage.]

Grand award — Lowell Thomas travel journalist of the year
Christopher P. Baker, freelance writer-photographer

Newspaper travel sections
- Newspapers with 500,000 or more circulation
Los Angeles Times, Catharine Hamm, Travel editor

- Newspapers with 350,000 to 499,999 circulation
The Globe and Mail, Toronto, Karan Smith and Julie Traves, Travel editors

- Newspapers with up to 350,000 circulation
The Times-Picayune, New Orleans, Millie Ball, Travel editor

Magazines
- Travel magazines
National Geographic Adventure, John Rasmus, editor in chief

- Travel coverage in other magazines
Brides Magazine, Sherri Eisenberg, senior travel editor

Newspaper article on U.S./Canada travel
Jane Roy Brown, “After Alice’s Restaurants,” the Boston Globe

Magazine article on U.S./Canada travel
James Vlahos, “The Arch Hunters,” National Geographic Adventure

Newspaper article on foreign travel
William Ecenbarger, “A Small Ship in a Big Jungle,” Chicago Tribune

Magazine article on foreign travel
Scott Anderson, “Fast Track to Tibet,” National Geographic Adventure

Newspaper photo illustration of travel article
Richard Sennott, “Room for the Soul,” Star Tribune, Minneapolis

Magazine photo illustration of travel article
Gordon Wiltsie, “The Vanishing Breed,” National Geographic Adventure

Special packages/projects
Tom Haines, project director, and Boston Globe staff, “At the Edge of Europe,”
the Boston Globe/boston.com

Article on marine travel
Carl Hoffman, “Take Me to the River,” National Geographic Traveler

Article on adventure travel
Aaron Teasdale, “Across Maasai Land,” [free PDF download] Adventure Cyclist

Travel news/investigative reporting
Steve Friedman, “The Long Trail to Jail,” Backpacker

Service-oriented consumer article
Jill Schensul, “Ever Ready for Mishap,” [paid archive] the Record (Hackensack, NJ)

Environmental tourism article
John Falk, “Why the Bonobos Need a Radio…and Other (Unlikely) Lessons From the Deepest Congo,” National Geographic Adventure

Cultural tourism article
Matthew Polly, “Bangkok Vice: Buddhas, Boxers, and Bar Girls,” Slate

Personal comment
Steve Friedman, “It’s Not About the Hole,” Bicycling

Special-purpose travel
John Falk, “Downward Facing Boyfriend,” National Geographic Adventure

Short travel article
Christopher P. Baker, “Baracoa,” Cuba Absolutely

Travel books
Nesreen Khashan and Jim Bowman, editors, “Encounters With the Middle East,” Travelers’ Tales/Solas House

Guidebooks
Erik Torkells and the editors of Budget Travel, “Secret Hotels,” Stewart, Tabori & Chang

Online travel journalism sites
Boston.com/travel, the Boston Globe, Christine Makris, senior producer

Travel broadcast — audio
Paul Lasley and Elizabeth Harryman, “On Travel — Kansas City,” XM Satellite Radio

Travel broadcast — video
Joseph Rosendo, “Colors of Malaysia,” PBS TV stations

What personal 2008 travel writing and travel journalism favorites of yours did the SATW judges miss?

– Jen Leo, Los Angeles Times Travel & Deal blogger; Andrew D. Nystrom, senior producer, travel.latimes.com

[Image: satwf.com]

Permalink | E-mail | Print | Add to My Trips

This entry was posted on Monday, October 20, 2008 at 5:07 pm by Jen Leo and is filed under Arts & Culture, Book Reviews, Contest & Sweepstakes, News, Tips & Advice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.