Bette Midler and the Dallas Theater Center aren’t the only award-winners of the weekend. Dallas Voice staffers and contributors fared very well at the Houston Press Club’s annual Lone Star Awards this weekend, taking four First Place trophies, as well as three other awards.
Senior Staff Writer David Taffet and Executive Editor Arnold Wayne Jones each walked off with two First Place awards. Taffet won for Print News or Feature Story for “Rehabilitated?,” about an anti-gay hate crime and the perpetrator’s quest for reconciliation. That piece also helped Taffet win Print Journalist of the Year. Judges singled out his work as “lively and engrossing… it doesn’t hurt that he finds surprising subjects with great stories to tell.” Dallas Voice Managing Editor Tammye Nash took Second Place in the same category.
Jones won the top award for Print Photography for his photo of a hot-air balloon mid-flight. “The stunning, color image of the hot-air balloon highlighted by the stream of fire is an exciting photo catching a brief moment of time,” opined the judges Jones also won First Place for his op/ed piece “David Bowie Allowed You to Be Gay.” The judges said, “What a tribute to an incredible icon! Strong writing, interesting subject and thought-provoking presentation.” Jones also took Third Place for Internet Opinion for “Winter is Coming,” in which he analyzed the dangers of a Trump presidency in the hours after his election.
Finally, columnist Cassie Nova (aka James Love) won Third Place for General Commentary for her piece “Cassie Gets Serious About Orlando.”
You can see all winners here. Congrats!