Detroit News personal finance columnist wins award

Brian O’Connor, the personal finance editor of the Detroit News, has won third place in humor writing in the large newspaper category from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, according to a short story on the paper’s Web site.

The story stated, “O’Connor, whose column runs Saturdays and Tuesdays in The News’ business section, was cited for a column explaining the causes of the global credit crunch; another on the financial advantages — and perils — of marriage; and a third that somehow related personal finance to a series of events involving his wife’s Swedish relatives, auto registration, Cinco de Mayo and a New York attic filled with bat guano.

“The judge was Ruth Butler, a columnist and editor at the Grand Rapids Press. In her comments, Butler wrote that O’Connor, ‘makes finance fun. You’re smiling and before you know it a potentially dry subject has become informative and entertaining.’

“Other winners in the category — humor writing for newspapers with more than 100,000 circulation — were Bill Ervolino of The Record in Hackensack, N.J., who took second place; and Lynn Yaeger of The Village Voice in New York, who won first place.”

Read more here.