Categories: OLD Media Moves

Crime writing is the culprit for this biz editor

Howard Owen, The Fredericksburg (Va.) Free Lance–Star’s business editor, has won the North America branch of the International Association of Crime Writers’ Hammett Prize.

Cathy Jett of the Free Lance-Star writes, “He beat out four other authors for the award, which is given annually for literary excellence in the field of crime writing in a book published in the English language in the United States or Canada.

“‘I am stunned and thrilled,’ Owen said Wednesday. ‘It’s the biggest honor I’ve gotten in 24 years of writing fiction.’

“He received the organization’s ‘Thin Man’ trophy Tuesday at the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association Fall Conference in Somerset, N.J.

“Dashiell Hammett, widely regarded as one of the finest mystery writers of all time, was the creator of such enduring characters as Sam Spade in ‘The Maltese Falcon’ and Nick and Nora Charles in ‘The Thin Man.’ ‘The Thin Man’ was later adapted for film in a series of movies.

“‘I’m heading to the auto shop right now to have the statuette mounted on the hood of my car,’ Owen joked. ‘I’m definitely thrilled and surprised.'”

Read more here.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.