Waldorf, Hilton Chicago, 3rd Floor
Many writers feel comfortable molding the truth to create a more satisfying story, yet still calling their piece nonfiction as long as the emotional core and basic frame of the work remain true. Not the writers on this panel. These authors, journalists, and nonfiction professors will explore the philosophy of factual versus emotional honesty and discuss how to achieve both--beautiful and moving nonfiction writing that is 100% true.
Dear High Plains Book Award committee, attendees and readers,
I can't tell you how painful it is for me to miss this event. I'm not with you today because of a previously scheduled obligation to a biological family member, which I'm pretty sure most Montanans - and certainly the folks I wrote the book for, who know how fragile family can be - will understand. Still, it's tough for me not to be in this room with you.
Since discovering the story of the Smith Mine disaster, I've traveled from Massachusetts to Carbon County numerous times, and I always rejoice in opportunities to come back. As I interviewed those left bereft by the mine explosion, drove the roads that its victims took to work that day, and memorized the sweet perfume of sagebrush and coal, I fell in love with your pocket of the world. The people of Bearcreek, Red Lodge, Billings and beyond welcomed me into their lives and made me feel like family. Those involved directly with the disaster graciously allowed me to give them a voice, and those just as shocked by this injustice as I was helped me to expose it. I thank all of them.
I thank the book award committee, too, for nominating me for this prestigious prize. And if Goodbye Wifes and Daughters happened to be lucky enough to win it, I thank you again.
Until next time,
Susan Kushner Resnick
October 2011
West-Mountain - Best Regional Non-Fiction Gold: Goodbye Wifes and Daughters, by Susan Kushner Resnick (University of Nebraska Press) Silver (tie): Voices of the American West, by Corinne Platt and Meredith Ogilby (Fulcrum Publishing) and Theodore Roosevelt Hunter-Conservationist, by R.L. Wilson (Boone and Crockett Club) Bronze: Storm of the i: An Artobiography, by Tina Collen (Art Review Press)
