By Anthony Pignataro
And now I’m going to pat myself on the back for a job very well done. That job was for doing very little editing to former MauiTime Associate Editor Anu Yagi (who stepped down last month to pursue new challenges). See, last week her now-discontinued column Kula Kid won this paper its very first Editorial Award from the Association of Alternative Newsmedia (AAN), which was announced during the organization’s annual convention in Detroit last week.
As longtime readers of MauiTime know very well, Anu is an exceptional writer, and her Kula Kid column was always thoughtful, literate, funny and a joy to read. That was due entirely her to skills–I never had to do more than tweak her work. That the national trade organization for alt weeklies like MauiTime has recognized that and awarded Anu a very prestigious First Prize award (in the papers-that-circulate-less-than-50,000-copies category) reflects greatly on her, and on this paper, and I could not be more proud (click here for a list of all the winners).
But Anu wasn’t the only winner: former MauiTime art directors Chris Skiles and Justin “Scrappers” Morrison–along with current photographer Sean Michael Hower–shared an Honorable Mention award for three covers they worked on: the Fashion Issue (Feb. 4, 2011), the Taste of Maui Issue (Sept. 1, 2011) and the Bar Guide (Oct. 20, 2011).
All of their work for MauiTime was wonderful, and while recognition like this is great, it also makes us miss Anu, Chris and Justin a little bit more.
Here are the columns and covers that won at AAN:
KULA KID
COVERS
Feb. 24, 2011: Designed by Chris Skiles with photography by Sean Michael Hower
Sept. 1, 2011: Designed by Justin "Scrappers" Morrison
Oct. 20, 2011: Designed by Justin "Scrappers" Morrison
Fireworks photo: Wikimedia Commons
