I’m so proud of my town right now! A Spokanite won the National Book Award for Non-fiction! Check it out:

Timothy Egan, a 1973 Gonzaga Prep grad, won the National Book Award for nonfiction Wednesday night for “The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl.”

“I feel like I just ran a sub-four-minute-mile,” said a giddy Egan, clutching his trophy while photographers gathered around him at the New York Marriott Marquis in Times Square. “The endorphins are kicking in.”

After Egan’s name was announced, the potential still existed for a Spokane-connected double win. Spokane’s Jess Walter was one of five finalists in the fiction category for his novel, “The Zero.” But when the fiction choice was announced a few minutes later, the winner was Richard Powers for “The Echo Maker.” Walter showed zero trace of disappointment.

Now, I knew that Jess Walter was from Spokane. In fact, he still lives here. But I am just finding out today that Egan is from Spokane, too. This is such great news for our city. We have been kind of getting bad press for a number of things, namely the whole Mayor scandal (did you see Frontline the other night?). So it’s great to see some good news attached to our humble little city.

I guess I should actually read both of these books…They both look fabulous! I AM currently reading a Jess Walter book at the moment, “Land of the Blind.” I will let you know how I like it. so far it’s a really good read.

Find out more here:

SR.com: Gonzaga Prep grad wins National Book Award

Oh and if you want to find out who the other winners are Check them out on the National Book Award website:
Nationalbook.org