CL’s Thomas Wheatley a finalist for national journalism award
May 19, 2009 at 4:37 pm by Mara Shalhoup in Inside CL
Anyone who’s read “Sober,” Thomas Wheatley’s gut-wrenching account of his battle with alcoholism, knows that the story does a beautiful job describing the horrors and rewards of overcoming a common — and often unacknowledged — disease. (If you haven’t read it, you should. Now.)
The Association of Alternative Newsweeklies has taken notice. “Sober” has been deemed one of the top five feature stories published by the country’s largest-circulation alt-weeklies. Other finalists for the AAN Award in the Feature Story category hail from LA Weekly, Houston Press and Denver’s Westword. The ranking of the finalists will be announced in late June.
Our sister papers, Chicago Reader and Washington City Paper, earned nominations in another six categories. Congrats guys! And congrats, Mr. Wheatley!
In other awards news, CL Photo Editor Joeff Davis is a finalist for the Atlanta Press Club’s Journalist of the Year Award in the Photography category. Go Joeff!
May 19th, 2009 at 5:13 pm
congrats guys.
May 19th, 2009 at 5:24 pm
I’m a huge fan of that Wheatley guy.
May 19th, 2009 at 6:37 pm
Yeah, and Wheatley gives good news, which hardly anybody else is around to do anymore.
Congrats to everybody.
May 19th, 2009 at 8:22 pm
I second you, Rickey. Way to go Thomas and Joeff! Well deserved in both cases.
May 19th, 2009 at 9:39 pm
Rock on, Thomas and Joeff.
May 19th, 2009 at 10:36 pm
What’s a Wheatley?!
May 19th, 2009 at 11:07 pm
You’re both fantastic–so glad others are giving props!
May 20th, 2009 at 4:56 am
If Thomas wins, plesae don’t give him any days off, he’ll probably just end up in the Macon-Bibb County drunk tank.
May 20th, 2009 at 11:31 am
Great job guys! After working with the two of you this spring, I can tell you’re both very passionate about what you do. You both deserve to win after all the hard work you put in.
May 20th, 2009 at 11:39 am
Thomas, it was one of the best pieces I’ve read on alcoholism. You’re an inspiration, even to old guys like me.
May 20th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
Thanks for the kind words, everyone. I appreciate it.
AtlPaddy: A “Wheatley” is a scientific measurement used predominantly in Finland. It measures gingerfolk’s different levels of social anxiety. Heady but true.
May 20th, 2009 at 1:48 pm
The story sucked Thomas!
No…just kidding. Just trying to be different from everyone else here.
The story rocked and I hope you win the award. Either way, though, it was a powerful piece that had an impact! Great work…