Category: Announcements

Press releases and other announcements from the NSNC

NSNC Honoree William Raspberry Dies

The Washington Post has reported today (Tuesday, July 17, 2012) that its longtime columnist William Raspberry died today of prostate cancer. He was 76. Raspberry was the 1995 recipient of the Ernie Pyle Lifetime Achievement Award of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, presented at that year’s conference, in Kansas City, Mo. The Post article…

Sitting Duck for 2012 — U.S. Economy

The 2012 Winner of the Infamous Sitting Duck Award is The American Economy. Why? The American economy – Nobody likes it, and you can find statistics to back up anything you want to say about it. The National Society of Newspaper Columnists created the Sitting Duck Award, an honor bestowed each year on the crème…

Columnists select Dave Barry for Lifetime Achievement Award

Dave Barry. Photo by daniel portnoy www.danielportnoy.com MACON, Ga. — Pulitzer Prize-winning humor columnist Dave Barry will be honored with the 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. The announcement was made Thursday night, May 3, in Macon, Ga., at the top of the society’s 2012 national conference, where New York…

NSNC Board Meets

The Board of Directors of NSNC met May 3, 2012 in Macon, Georgia, prior to the annual conference. Ed Grisamore said he is happy to have us in Macon and expects to have 50-60 people at each conference event.  St. Petersburg FL was decided on at a previous board meeting as the site of the…

Meet Will Rogers’ Great-Grandson

A late – but most welcome – addition to the Macon 2012 program is Josh Rogers Leuty, a great-grandson of Will Rogers.   Leuty, 44, was raised on a dairy farm near Bakersfield, CA by parents Eric and Bette Rogers Brandin. His grandfather, California rancher Jim Rogers, was the last surviving offspring of Will and…

Register Now for the May in Macon Conference

By Ed Grisamore, NSNC Conference Chair REGISTER NOW: Registration is open for the 36th annual Conference of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists in Macon, Ga., May 3-6, 2012. “Macon Whoopee” is the theme for this year’s conference, our first in the Old South. We’ll meet and mingle with New York Times columnist Gail Collins…

New Candidate on Slate of Officers

There’s a new candidate on the slate of officers proposed for election at the annual membership meeting on Sunday, May 6 in the closing session of the 2012 Conference in Macon, Ga. It’s none other than the outgoing president, Ben Pollock. When Tracy Beckerman withdrew as a nominee for the Web Editor position for personal…

New Book on Writing from Don Fry

Don Fry spoke to our National Society of Newspaper Columnists last  June. You may remember his striking common sense and optimism about  writing. He has just published a book entitled “Writing Your Way,  Creating Your own Writing Process that Works for You” (Cincinnati: Writer’s Digest, 2012). The book is available from local bookstores  and from Amazon…

Veteran Arkansas Columnist Honored for Humanitarian Work

An Arkansas journalist who has fought against injustice and strove to produce positive change over four decades is the 2012 winner of the Will Rogers Humanitarian Award. Mike Masterson, staff columnist and opinion editor for the Northwest edition of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, will be honored by the National Society of Newspaper Columnists at its annual…

Robert Benchley Society Humor Writing Competition

The Robert Benchley Society has opened its 2012 Humor Writing Competition. Entries to the contest should be “Benchleyesque (in the sense of reflecting the Benchley style and humor).” Comedian Arte Johnson will serve as celebrity judge and present awards at the Ninth Robert Benchley Society International Annual Gathering, to be held this autumn in Los Angeles. The deadline…

Member gets Honorable Mention in Writing Contest

Wanda Argersinger Wanda Argersinger, NSNC member from Gulf Breeze, Florida, was selected as an Honorable Mention in the Humor – Global category of the 2012 Erma Bombeck writing competition. The contest is sponsored by Washington-Centerville Library in Ohio and the Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop.  Wanda’s winning entry, “Goodbye Old Flame” was about changing computer technology…

Patriotic Duty: Macon in May

"Let's incentivize the columnists with a conference discount," Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner tells the president during a flight to Macon, Ga. (Neither will be there May 4-6).

“Let’s incentivize the columnists by extending the conference discount,” Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner tells the president during a flight to Macon, Ga. (Neither will be there May 4-6). Humor by Ben Pollock See? Everyone agrees. It’s your duty to attend the annual conference of the National Society of Newspaper  Columnists. It’s May 4-6 in Macon,…

Candidates for Board of Directors

NSNC today announced the slate of candidates recommended by the nominating committee for 2012-2014 offices. President Ben Pollock made the announcedment in an email to the Board. The candidate for WebEditor later changed when Tracy Beckerman decided not to run for office. • Larry Cohen, President, several clients, with business humor at http://www.hartfordbusiness.com, search for…

Dedra Grizzard at 2012 Macon Conference

“It’s official. Dedra Grizzard, widow of the late Lewis Grizzard, the South’s most famous newspaper columnist, is on the program.” announced Ed Grismore, Conference Chair of the 2012 Conference in Macon, Georgia, May 3-5. Ed tells us Mrs. Grizzard is not only honored but thrilled to come. And furthermore, she is going to ask Jim…

Jeff Zaslow Columnist Scholarship Announced

Spirit of Detroit

Jeff Zaslow, photo courtesy of Indiana University Columnists, indeed journalists and all of America, lost a strong voice with the death on Feb. 10 of Jeffrey Zaslow, best-selling author and “Moving On” columnist of The Wall Street Journal. The National Society of Newspaper Columnists Education Foundation now honors Zaslow by naming its scholarship program after…

NSNC Board Meets

The NSNC Board of Directors met online the evening of February 13 to discuss the business of the Society. Luenna Kim, NSNC Director, reported that membership renewals are coming in and she expects an increase later as people send in writing contest entries. Rose Valentia and Bob Haught are busy working on an informative booklet to direct…

No Taking Ulysses for Granted

  Ben S. Pollock President National Society of Newspaper Columnists Spring — OK, this is winter but I’m an optimist — is busy-time for the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. • We’re halfway through gathering entries for the annual Column Contest. Have you sent yours in? Bloggers: You can’t win if you don’t enter. Like…