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In Character:
A Journal of Everyday Virtues
Announces Finalists for $20,000 In Character Prizes
-Saluting Editorial and Opinion Writing About the Human Virtues-
West Conshohocken , PA (September 6, 2007)—In Character, the journal of everyday virtues, is pleased to announce the finalists for the second annual In Character Prizes. The winners of one $10,000 and two $5,000 journalism prizes for editorial and opinion writing about the human virtues will be revealed at a ceremony at the Yale Club in New York City on October 18.
The three finalists, chosen from 250 submissions, are:
- Mark Douglas (Atlanta, GA) for "Give Me Patience Right Now" and "Waiting and Wanting" in The Sunday Paper
- Danny Heitman (Baton Rouge, LA) for "Daily thanksgiving is worth the work" in the Christian Science Monitor
- Wendy McElroy (Collingwood, ON) for "Recalling A Long Ago Act of Kindness" on FoxNews.com
"Editorial and opinion pages are the great forums for moral debate and inspiration," said Kimon Sargeant, vice president of human sciences for the John Templeton Foundation, which sponsors the Prizes. "We are delighted with both the quantity and quality of this year’s submissions, attesting to a very healthy public discourse about the role of virtue in our daily lives."
This year saw a 28% increase in the number of submissions and entrants. Entries were submitted from 89 publications, including the Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, Philadelphia Daily News, USA Today, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post.
The Finalists
Mark Douglas is a professor of Christian ethics at Columbia Theological Seminary and opinion writer for The Sunday Paper, an alternative weekly newspaper published in Atlanta, GA, focusing on news, culture and entertainment. An ordained Presbyterian minister, he is the author of "Confessing Christ in the 21st Century."
Danny Heitman writes the weekly "At Random" column for The Advocate of Baton Rouge, which has twice been named Best Regular Column by the Louisiana Press Association. Heitman’s writing has also won awards from the Associated Press. His essays have appeared in Smithsonian Magazine, The Christian Science Monitor, Child Magazine, Disney's Family Fun and other national publications. His first book, "A Summer of Birds: John James Audubon at Oakley House," will be published next year by LSU Press.
Wendy McElroy is the author of several books, including "The Reasonable Woman: A Guide to Intellectual Survival" and "Liberty for Women." The editor of ifeminists.com, McElroy wrote a weekly column for FoxNews.com for six years. She is also a research fellow at the Independent Institute, and contributing editor to Ideas on Liberty, The New Libertarian, Free Inquiry and Liberty magazines. She has written for such diverse periodicals as National Review, Penthouse and Marie Claire.
The prize was judged by the editors of In Character magazine. For complete and detailed information about the In Character Prize, please visit the In Character Web site, www.incharacter.org/prize.
About In Character
Nominated for best design and best cultural coverage by Utne Reader, In Character continues to stimulate, charm and astonish. It is distributed to 3,200 of the most influential opinion-makers in the English-speaking world—a politically and professionally diverse group of writers, professors, policy wonks, poets, physicists, medical ethicists, bloggers, atheists, bishops, philosophers, statisticians, actors, scientists, economists, historians, business leaders and journalists. The journal is also available to the public by paid subscription. For more information, please visit www.incharacter.org.
About the John Templeton Foundation
In Character’s publisher, the John Templeton Foundation, was established in 1987 by international investment manager Sir John Templeton. Its mission is to serve as a philanthropic catalyst for discovery in areas engaging life’s biggest questions. These questions range from explorations into the laws of nature and the universe to questions on the nature of love, gratitude, forgiveness, and creativity. Our vision is derived from John Templeton’s commitment to rigorous scientific research and related scholarship. The Foundation’s motto "How little we know, how eager to learn" exemplifies our support for open-minded inquiry and our hope for advancing human progress through breakthrough discoveries.For more information, please visit www.templeton.org.
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