2001 Lukas Prize Release

2001 Lukas Prize Project Awards Announced
for Exceptional Works of Nonfiction

By Kim Brockway
Published: Apr 03, 2001

Two books and a work-in-progress have been named recipients of the awards given annually by the J. Anthony Lukas Prize Project, a program that recognizes superb examples of nonfiction writing that exemplify the literary grace, the commitment to serious research, and the social concern that characterized the distinguished work of the award's namesake.

The winners are:

The J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize ($10,000): David Nasaw, The Chief: The Life of William Randolph Hearst (Houghton Mifflin Company). Based on previously unavailable sources, including Hearst's personal papers, the book profiles the nation's first media mogul, William Randolph Hearst (1862-1951), who built a conglomerate from a single San Francisco newspaper. Detailing Hearst's management of the largest publishing empire in the country; his interactions with Hitler, Mussolini, Churchill and every American president from Grover Cleveland to Franklin Roosevelt; and his relationships with his wife and mistress, the author examines the man's professional, political and private life.
The prize's jurors, Alex Kotlowitz (The Other Side of the River: A Story of Two Towns, a Death, and America's Dilemma), Jane Mayer (Strange Justice: The Selling of Clarence Thomas), and Isabel Wilkerson (Pulitzer Prize-winning writer) noted, "In a measured, sympathetic, but politically detached narrative, Nasaw manages to take the well-known, myth-enshrouded life of Hearst, and retell it freshly. In addition to painting a brilliantly complex portrait of this fascinating American titan, Nasaw also deftly uses Hearst's life to shed new light on the emergence of America's modern entertainment and information industries. Years in the making, this is an extraordinary work of narrative non-fiction that pays tribute to both the concerns and the impeccable professional standards of Anthony Lukas."

Two finalists were also noted:

The Informant (Broadway Books), by Kurt Eichenwald, and Book of Honor (Doubleday), by Ted Gup.

The Mark Lynton History Prize ($10,000): Fred Anderson, Crucible of War: The Seven Years' War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754-1766 (Knopf). A chronicle of the struggle for empire between France and England in North America, Europe and Asia, the book contextualizes the Seven Years' War in American history. Incorporating landscapes, portraits, maps and charts, the author presents a political and military history complete with personalities from George III to George Washington.

The prize's jurors, Eric Foner (The Story of American Freedom), David Kertzer (The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara), and Karen Ordahl Kupperman (Indians and English: Facing Off in Early America) said, "in this deeply-researched and lively narrative, Anderson vividly recreates the people and politics in the struggle for control of North America involving Britain, France, and powerful Indian entities such as the Iroquois League. He demonstrates that Americans neither anticipated nor desired independence at war's end and focuses our attention on the worldwide conflict of the mid-eighteenth century."
A finalist was also noted: Ho Chi Minh (Hyperion), by William Duiker.

The J. Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress Award ($45,000):

Max Holland, <em>A Need to Know: Inside the Warren Commission, </em>to be published by Houghton Mifflin. Judges Nancy Hicks Maynard (Maynard Partners Inc.), Thomas Powers <em>(Heisenberg's War)</em>, and Rebecca Sinkler (former editor of The New York Times Book Review) found the book "both a worthy and an ideal candidate for a J. Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress Award: a deeply researched work of contemporary history . . . requiring a combination of journalistic and scholarly skills peculiar to the writing of narrative history, which promises to break new ground on a subject of pressing public significance."

A finalist was also noted:

Elinor Langer for <em>Death of Mulageta Seraw</em>, to be published by HarperCollins.

The awards are co-administered by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and the Nieman Foundation at Harvard University, and are sponsored by the family of the late Mark Lynton, a historian and senior executive at the firm Hunter Douglas in the Netherlands.

The awards will be presented on May 8 during a program beginning at 6 p.m. at Columbia's Journalism School, Broadway and 116th Street. In addition to the presentation, there will be a panel discussion, moderated by Nicholas Lemann, staff writer, <em>The New Yorker,</em> and author of <em>The Big Test: The Secret History of the American Meritocracy,</em> focusing on the challenges of nonfiction writing.

Established in 1998, the Lukas Prize Project honors and perpetuates the work that distinguished the career of acclaimed journalist and author J. Anthony Lukas, who died in 1997. The winner of two Pulitzer Prizes, the National Book Award, and the National Book Critics Circle Award, Lukas published five epic books, each of which examined a critical fault line in America's social and political landscape by examining individual lives caught up in the havoc of change. A former foreign and national correspondent for <em>The New York Times,</em> Lukas tackled the country's generational conflict in <em>Don't Shoot: We Are Your Children;</em> examined the impact of school desegregation in <em>Common Ground,</em> and told a sweeping tale of class conflict at the turn of the century in <em>Big Trouble, </em>completed just before his death.

Arthur Gelb, author and director, The New York Times College Scholarship Program, and Linda Healey, editor and Mr. Lukas' widow, are co-chairs of the J. Anthony Lukas Prize Committee. Other members are Alan Brinkley, author and historian; Ellen Chesler, author and senior fellow, Open Society Institute; Robert Giles, curator, Nieman Foundation; Tom Goldstein, dean of Columbia's Graduate School of Journalism; Vartan Gregorian, president, The Carnegie Corporation; Bill Kovach, chairman of the Committee of Concerned Journalists; Nicholas Lemann, author and staff writer, The New Yorker; Marion Lynton, Mr. Lynton's widow; author and human rights activist Kati Marton; and author and The New York Times editorial board member Brent Staples.