Wild West magazine is proud to announce that Roger Di Silvestro’s “Teddy’s Ride to Recovery,” won a Spur Award from Western Writers of America. The article, which appeared in the October 2009 issue of Wild West magazine, tells the story of future president Theodore Roosevelt’s years in the West as a young man.
For the entire list of nominees and winners, see the media release from WWA below.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor has won a 2010 Spur Award from Western Writers of America for “Finding Susie,” her somewhat autobiographical children’s book about growing up on a desert ranch.
Western Writers of America (www.westernwriters.org) announced the winners and finalists of its annual literary contest Saturday, March 20, during the National Festival of the West. O’Connor and illustrator Tom Pohrt won the Storyteller Spur for best illustrated children’s book. “Finding Susie” was published by Knopf Books for Young Readers, a division of Random House.
Robert Flynn’s “Echoes of Glory” (published by Texas Christian University Press) won tfor Best Western Long Novel — more than 90,000 words — and Robert Olmstead’s “Far Bright Star” (Algonquin) won for Best Western Short Novel.
Since 1953, Western Writers of America has promoted and honored the best in Western literature with the annual Spur Awards, selected by panels of judges. Awards, for material published last year, are given for works whose inspiration, image, and literary excellence best represent the reality and spirit of the American West.
John D. Nesbitt won two Spurs, claiming his second consecutive Spur for Best Original Mass Market Paperback Novel with “Stranger in Thunder Basin” (Leisure Books) and for Best Western Short Fiction Story, “At the End of the Orchard” ( Hardboiled Magazine).
WWA President Johnny D. Boggs won his fourth Spur Award, for “Hard Winter” (Five Star) in the Best Western Juvenile Fiction category.
Winners and finalists will be honored at the WWA Convention, June 22-26 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Knoxville, Tennessee.
The complete list of winners and finalists
Long Novel – Winner: Robert Flynn, “Echoes of Glory” (TCU Press). Finalists: Bob Cherry, “One-Eyed Jacks” (Cicada Wing); Mary E. Trimble, “Tenderfoot” (Treble Heart).
Short Novel – Winner: Robert Olmstead, “Far Bright Star” (Algonquin). Finalists: Sandi Ault, “Wild Sorrow” (Berkley Prime Crime); Robert Greer, “Spoon” (Fulcrum).?
Mass Market Paperback – Winner: John D. Nesbitt, “Stranger in Thunder Basin” (Leisure). Finalists: Lyle Brandt, “Hanging Judge” (Penguin/Berkley); William Blinn, “A Cold Place in Hell” (Pinnacle/Kensington).
Nonfiction-Biography – Winner: David C. Humphrey, “Peg Leg” (Texas State Historical Society). Finalists: Clyde Milner and Carol O’Connor, “As Big as the West: The Pioneer Life of Granville Stuart” (Oxford University Press); Polly Aird, “Mormon Convert/Mormon Defector: A Scottish Immigrant in the American West (Arthur H. Clark).
Nonfiction-Historical – Winner: Douglas C. McChristian, “Fort Laramie” (Arthur H. Clark). Finalists: William B. Schillingberg, “Dodge City: The Early Years, 1872-1886” (Arthur H. Clark); Paul Horsted, Ernest Grafe and Jon Nelson, “Crossing the Plains with Custer (Golden Valley Press).
Nonfiction-Contemporary – Winner: Charles H. Harris III and Louis R. Sadler, “The Secret War in El Paso: Mexican Revolutionary Intrigue, 1906-1920” (University of New Mexico Press). Finalists: Katherine Benton-Cohen, “Borderline Americans: Racial Division and Labor War in the Arizona Borderlands” (Harvard University Press); Timothy Egan, “The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire That Saved America” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt).
Short Nonfiction – Winner: Roger Di Silvestro, “Teddy’s Ride to Recovery” (Wild West). Finalists: Kerry Oman, “Rejoicing in the Beauties of Nature: The Image of the Western Landscape During the Fur Trade” (Great Plains Quarterly); Michael A. Amundson, “These Men Play Real Polo: An Elite Sport in the Cowboy State, 1890-1930” (Montana: The Magazine of Western History).
Short Fiction – Winner: John D. Nesbitt, “At the End of the Orchard” (Hardboiled Magazine). Finalists: Matthew Mayo, “Half a Pig” (Express Westerns); J.J. Clark, “As Is” (High Desert Journal).
Juvenile Fiction – Winner: Johnny D. Boggs, “Hard Winter” (Five Star). Finalists: Victoria McKernan, “The Devil’s Paintbox” (Knopf); Melodie Cuate, “Journey to Goliad” (Texas Tech University Press).
Juvenile Nonfiction – Winner: Nancy Plain, “With One Sky Above Us” (Mondo Publishing). Finalists: Annica Benning, “Arizona: Nations and Arts” (Walnut Canyon Press); Charles C. Mann, “Before Columbus: The Americas of 1491” (Atheneum/Simon & Schuster).
Storyteller – Winner: Sandra Day O’Connor (author) and Tom Pohrt (illustrator), “Finding Susie” (Random House); Finalists: Joe Gribnau (author) and Adrian Tans (illustrator), “Kick the Cowboy” (Pelican); Vaunda Micheaux Nelson (author) and R. Gregory Christie (illustrator), “Bad News for Outlaws: The Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves, Deputy U.S. Marshal” (Lerner Publishing).
Documentary – Winner: Candy Moulton, “In Pursuit of a Dream” (Boston Productions Inc.). Finalists: Ric Burns, “We Shall Remain: Tecumseh’s Vision” (WGBH); Lyman Hafen, “Born to Ride” (Southern Utah University).
Poem – Winner: Paul Zarzyski, “Bob Dylan Bronc Song” (Two Medicine). Finalists: David Memmott, “Where the Yellow Brick Road Turns West” (Wordcraft of Oregon); Larry D. Thomas, “Glass Mountains” (Southwestern American Literature).
Audiobook – Winner: Gary McCarthy, “River Thunder” (Books in Motion). Finalists: Monty McCord, Mundy’s Law (Books in Motion); Phil Mills Jr., “Where a Good Wind Blows” (Books in Motion).
Song – Winner: Wylie Gustafson and Paul Zarzyski, “Hang-n-Rattle: (Two Medicine Music/Bucking Horse Moon Music). Finalists: Steve Moulton, “Steamboat” (Butch Hause/The Ranger Station); Daron Little, “Pete French” (self-published).