Place Name: First Place Contestant Name: Peter Guttman Entry Title: American Character: Surprising Portraits of an Unseen Nation Entry Credit: Peter Guttman Judge Comment: A remarkable marriage of text and photographs of interesting individuals adds up to 250 pages of easy-to-digest education. Photographer/wordsmith Peter Guttman is devoted to almost every kind of diversity imaginable. As he travels the U.S., he shoots pictures worth a thousand words, then provides a thousand words give or take about each person photographed. Because the succession of individuals is not organized in any systematic manner, the turn of every page offers a surprise. And that surprise never feels unwelcome. Guttman begins with an elderly man who is a zinc prospector in Blue Eye, Arkansas, and ends with a woman lepidopterist in East Meredith, New York.
Place Name: Second Place Contestant Name: Bloomsbury USA Entry Title: Wild Chocolate: Across the Americas in Search of Cacao's Soul Entry Credit: Rowan Jacobsen, Harriet LeFavour Judge Comment: Rowan Jacobsen is a talented, exacting journalist who incorporates travel into his books with such topics as oysters, truffles, honey bees and apples. For this illuminating book about the tastiest chocolate on Earth, the primary destination Jacobsen visits is Bolivia, with additional journeys to Guatemala, Brazil, Belize and Mexico. The dedicated individuals who operate the classic chocolate supply chain are portrayed vividly. This is superb journalism that happens to fit the travel writing category.
Place Name: Third Place Contestant Name: Leigh Ann Henion Entry Title: Night Magic: Adventures Among Glowworms, Moon Gardens, and Other Marvels of the Dark Entry Credit: Leigh Ann Henion Judge Comment: To celebrate nighttime adventuring, Leigh Ann Henion divides her book into spring, summer and fall. In the spring, migrating salamanders and squirming glowworms take center stage. In summer, Henion educates us about moths, bats and foxfire. In the fall, moon gardens bloom. Henion is a first-rate nature journalist who travels at night to ensure her readers do not remain in the dark.
Place Name: Honorable Mention Contestant Name: Avalon Travel Entry Title: On the Hippie Trail Entry Credit: Rick Steves Judge Comment: Almost every reader of travel narratives and travel guides recognizes the name Rick Steves. He is no longer just an accomplished individual. Rather, he is the godfather of an entire industry. In this retrospective set in 1978, Steves starts from his familiar European base to explore Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Kashmir and Nepal. Today, the journey seems both nostalgic and educational. Mostly, though, the value of this memoir results from an enhanced understanding of an iconic travel writer.
