markk

Amidst the heartbreaking coverage of the fire at Notre Dame cathedral, I almost missed the announcement of the 2019 Pulitzer Prizes. As usual, most of the attention has been toward the journalism awards (and perhaps a bit more so this year, given that our presidunce has set himself against anyone who exposes the truth about him), but of course there were the also the book prizes, the nonfiction winners I always look forward to seeing.

And among this year's winners was Jeffrey Stewart for his biography of Alain Locke.

I cannot tell you the feeling of pride that I felt when I saw that he had won. This wasn't because I had anything to do with its genesis, production, or publication, of course, but because I interviewed him last year for a NBN podcast. Seeing his book receive the recognition it so richly deserves leaves me feeling like someone who purchased an artwork before the artist became famous, or discovering a local restaurant before it received its Michelin star. And while I claim zero credit for all of the acclaim that he has received for his book, I do like to think that I helped bring some attention to a book that truly deserved it.

Now I have to decide whether I am going to buy a copy of David Blight's Frederick Douglass biography, given that just about every library I know has a copy of it.