Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 23, 1994 TAG: 9404250138
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By JAMES WARREN CHICAGO TRIBUNE
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Nominated as a finalist in three categories, 200,000-circulation Harper's won in each at the industry's version of the Oscars, announced during a big New York luncheon Wednesday. As is often the case, a mix of usual suspects, young upstarts and noble obscurities were lauded.
In the early 1980s, Harper's was on the publishing ropes before being rescued by the Chicago father-son duo of Roderick and Rick MacArthur, son and grandson of the late insurance mogul John D. MacArthur. It's run by Rick, a former Chicago Sun-Times reporter, and was cited Wednesday for best feature writing, fiction, and essays and criticism.
The only other multiple winner was Health, which won twice. The Tina Brown-revived New Yorker, the leader for the second consecutive year when it came to nominations, with five, was among nine one-time winners.
The 28-year-old competition is sponsored by the American Society of Magazine Editors and run by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, and it attracted a record 1,395 entries from 333 magazines.
And for those who couldn't show Wednesday, they could log on. For the first time, the presentation was carried by TIME Online, via America Online, to PC users. Here's what they learned:
General excellence, more than 1 million circulation: Business Week. The financial stalwart was lauded by the judges for dealing excellently with big stories ``in the grand news magazine tradition'' and exhibiting enterprise on social trends, including a cover story on the economics of crime.
General excellence, 400,000 to 1 million: Health. It justifiably was praised for ``clear-eyed and reliable information that engages the reader and demystifies the subject,'' and was likely helped by the nation's immersion in health care.
General excellence, 100,000 to 400,000: Wired. Here, one senses the print folks praising a world they don't quite understand, heralding a young San Francisco-based celebration of the digital revolution, a print voice of non-print media.
General excellence, under 100,000: Print. It's lush. It's beautiful. It's an homage to the graphic arts. I've never laid eyes on it.
Personal service: Fortune. Its winning entry was ``One Man's Tough Choices on Prostate Cancer,'' writer Tom Alexander's first-person account.
Special interests: Outside. It won for articles ``exploring the passionate pursuit of physical prowess,'' by David Quammen, a stellar Montana-based Outside columnist and previous winner, and Donald Katz.
Reporting: New Yorker. This was for a dandy two-part series by Texan Lawrence Wright, whose investigation suggested the bogus nature of the conviction of a Washington state deputy sheriff after allegations of satanic ritual abuse.
Feature writing: Harper's. It won for Darcy Frey's account of New York high school basketball hotshots being enticed by slimeball college recruiters.
Public interest: Philadelphia. This was for writer Stephen Fried's look behind the prescription drug market, inspired by his wife's having suffered long-term neurological damage as a result of taking a single dose of an antibiotic. It's at least a brief return to glory for what was a pioneering, and once the finest, city magazine.
Design: Allure. ``From cover to cover, its radical, racy orchestration of type and photography shouts and sings its information-packed rap.'' I'll take their word.
Photography: Martha Stewart Living. Ah, Martha Stewart and her celebration of middle-brow consumerism. Gag me with a spoon.
Fiction: Harper's. This was for stories by Tony Earley, George Saunders and, I say sheepishly, Allan Gurganus. Gurganus' ``The Practical Heart,'' about a young Chicago woman in the 1880s seeking truth and beauty, was excellent, even if I praised it in the Chicago Tribune as stellar non-fiction.
Essays and criticism: Harper's. Its editors were praised for ``literary judgment and vision'' displayed in non-fictional statements and commentaries by Lucy Grealy, Louise Erdrich and David Beers.
Single-topic issue: Health. It won for a fact-filled and dignified guide to dealing with aging parents.
by CNB