Lowell Thomas Travel Journalist of the Year

By the light of a hotel room window in Oxford, moving back on line after time off the grid in northern England, I read the astonishing news that I had been named the Lowell Thomas Travel Journalist of the Year.  I could not have been more surprised, and grateful. As a writer I believe in “deep travel,” which means I report upon and otherwise describe people in places with regard to their history, and political, social and spiritual surroundings.  I am humbled and thrilled that the judges who looked at my work and deemed it worthy of this recognition appreciated, and by their award, esteemed this perspective.  Maya Roads, for instance, includes not only the beauty of the Mesoamerican rainforest, but also contains accounts of the violence of its recent past.  The essay, “Gore Vidal’s Old House” suggests the late writer, one of the keenest observers of U.S. foreign policy in the last sixty years, began to form his critique of imperialism while living in Guatemala as a young novelist (elsewhere on this site are links to these and other stories in the portfolio given the Grand Award).  I am grateful to my agent, Andy Ross, the editors with whom I worked, and most of all to individuals in several countries who allowed me to share their stories.

Here is the YouTube video of the awards presentation (my bit is at the end, Grand Award) http://youtu.be/PcYyqWIE_2s and here are the SATW press release and judges’ comments:

Mary Jo McConahay, author, freelance writer, blogger and documentary filmmaker, earned the title of Lowell Thomas Travel Journalist of the Year for a portfolio of her work that included exceptional storytelling in “Maya Roads: One Woman’s Journey Among the People of the Rainforest.” Afar magazine, Travel + Leisure and the Los Angeles Times were the top winners, earning the most awards.

The annual competition is sponsored by the Society of American Travel Writers Foundation. Winners of the awards, the most prestigious in the field of travel journalism, were announced Oct. 21 at the SATW convention, held this year in Biloxi, on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. This is the 29th Lowell Thomas competition and drew 1,257 entries. Judges were members of the faculty at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill School of Journalism and Mass Communication. It is the premier competition in North America in the field of travel journalism.

Grand Award — Lowell Thomas Travel Journalist of the Year 



Gold: Mary Jo McConahay, freelance writer, author, blogger and documentary filmmaker
The best travel writing entices readers to be adventurous anywhere — from the remoteness of the tropical rain forest to the density of sprawling Sao Paulo. Mary Jo McConahay does just that in “Maya Roads: One Woman’s Journey Among the People of the Rainforest” and “Navigating a Hypercity: Sao Paulo” and in other wonderful articles such as “Gore Vidal’s Old House.” In the latter, McConahay walks us in the footsteps of novelist, journalist and playwright Gore Vidal, who was a World War II veteran and frequent critic of U.S. foreign policy in his later years. Vidal’s life is center stage in “Old House,” which McConahay informs us is not your typical residence: “In 1946, the author (Vidal), then just twenty-one, took $3,000 from the payment for his first novel, ‘Williwaw,’ and bought a crumbling 16th-century convent next to the ruins of Our Lady of Carmen.”

In “Navigating a Hypercity,” McConahay introduces Brazil’s largest city, which requires serious travel planning before visiting:

“Despite having traveled in more than eighty countries, I froze last year when planning a trip to Sao Paulo, Pop: 20 million. It wasn’t the number itself that stopped me — who can count to twenty million anyway? But descriptions called the largest urban conglomeration in South America a hypercity, a term new to me, evoking image of chaos, attention disorder and suffocating density. I got nervous.”

McConahay’s writing is anything but chaos as she calmly advises would-be visitors on how to best tour the city. From walking to eating, and of course shopping, she steels our nerves to the point that we are ready to book a flight right now. With outstanding writing and advice Mary Jo McConahay proves that she is both the quintessential travel writer and exceptional storyteller. For that she earns the gold in the Grand Award category.

The SATW award competition is formidable and prestigious in the field because:

* it does not promote any particular destination or travel product, * it is open to all North American journalists, not just SATW members, and * it is judged independently by the faculty at top U.S. schools of journalism.

The Foundation distributes nearly $20,000 in prize money to individual winners. Generous donations by this year’s Underwriters, the Tourist Office for Flanders-Brussels and Travel Guard, help make the prizes possible.

For more information about the awards, including a full list of winners and judges’ comments, and SATW, visit www.satwf.com and www.satw.org.

SATW FOUNDATION
LOWELL THOMAS TRAVEL JOURNALISM COMPETITION
 29 Years of Rewarding Journalists for Outstanding Work in the Field

Writers' Workshop Coming Up

Come November, I'll be offering a writers' workshop at beautiful Lake Atitlan, Guatemala.  This is the chance to jump start the writing you've long thought of doing, finish the novel you have been working on, or outline the memoir you have long promised to family, or yourself.  This is a photo of a dock at the lovely inn (rooms of volcanic stone) where we will stay, Posada Santiago, by Jeff Speigner.  And yes, it really looks like this.

Nov. 9-17, 2013

Writers’ Workshop

on magical Lake Atitlan

The gift of time to write.

Inspiration, and experienced support.

Please go to: http://www.eat-write-travel.com/guatemala.html

This will be a small group -- ideal for a spirit of retreat, and individual attention to each writer. We will work on structure, and voice. Feedback and thoughtful critique are central to developing the craft -- these will be key elements in our days at the beautiful Posada Santiago on the Lake.

With Mary Jo McConahay, author of Maya Roads, One Woman’s Journey Among the People of the RainforestIndependent Publishers' Award, Best travel essay book; Northern California Book Award, best creative nonfiction; USA BookNews International Book Awards: Best travel essay book, best autobiography/memoir, best new nonfiction; A National Geographic Traveler  Book of the Month. 

Mary Jo’s travel stories have won four Solas Best Travel Writing awards in the last two years, appeared in Best Travel Writing and Best Women’s Travel Writing (Travelers’ Tales), and on Gadling.com. Her story on GoNomad.com, was judged one of the site’s top five of the last year. Her award-winning reporting has appeared in Time, Newsweek, Vogue, Rolling Stone, the Los Angeles Times Magazine and more than two dozen other publications. Workshop details at: http://www.eat-write-travel.com/guatemala.html

GUATEMALA GENOCIDE VERDICT: GUILTY

MAY 10, 2013

THE WAIT.  SEVEN HOURS DELIBERATION.

 WOMEN LEADERS.  THE TIME FOR VERDICT DRAWS NEAR.

JUDGE JAZMÍN BARRIOS READS THE DECISION, ABOUT 45 MINUTES

                            TWO GENERATIONS LISTEN IN IXIL MAYA LANGUAGE

GUILTY: GENOCIDE  50 YEARS

GUILTY: CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY  30 YEARS

INSECURE SITUATION FOR ONE HOUR. RIOS MONTT HOLDS FORTH FOR PRESS, THE DEFENSE TABLE CRASHES TO THE FLOOR.  NO ONE SEEMS TO BE FOLLOWING ORDERS TO TAKE THE GENERAL INTO CUSTODY.

JUDGE CALLS FOR REINFORCEMENTS "TO PREVENT RISK OF ESCAPE"

SECURITY FORCES TAKE FORMER PRESIDENT GEN. EFRAÍN RÍOS MONTT TO PRISON.

MAY 11, 2013 IT'S A NEW DAY

"I am Innocent" -- The General Speaks

  The General Speaks at the Genocide Trial

For the first time since the Guatemala genocide trial began on March 19, Gen. Efraín Rios Montt spoke, for nearly an hour. In a manner not unlike the Sunday sermons he broadcast on moral themes during his administration from 1982 to 1983. he explained that far from committing genocide, he saved the country which he said had been on the verge of falling into the hands of pro-Communist rebels.  Earlier, in documents presented during summation for the prosecution, army patrols said the guerrillas had left the Ixil Triangle area of the country's highlands, before the army scorched earth campaign.

                        

Rios Montt's daughter Zury, center in photo left, and Ixil Maya survivors, watch Rios Montt speak

"I was chief of state and I had a staff called a cabinet," the general said, insisting he had no direct command over the violence.  "I was a head of state, not a zone chief, " he said.  Local commanders possessed autonomy. "What did I do wrong?" he asked.  I fulfilled my responsibility."

Prosecutors gave final arguments.  They are asking for 75 years in jail for Rios Montt, 86

In his summation, Rios Montt's lawyer Francisco Garcia Gudiel questioned the capacity and education of most prosecution expert witnesses, including the Guatemalan  forensic anthropologists who have unearthed thousands of remains of the slain.  Rios Montt addressed his remarks to journalists who squatted before him or knelt or sat in a circle to get the best shot.  After 20 minutes, Judge Barrios directed the General to speak to the bench.  The court has only to hear a statement from Rodriguez,  beginning early morning May 10.

Genocide Trial Turning Point--Final Arguments

 "Time's Up"

The courtroom filled quickly once word spread the judge called for summations.

After three weeks in which the Guatemala genocide trial threatened daily to crash and burn with pleas before parallel courts, a cascade of motions and a sudden defense table illness, closing arguments began today.  Judge Jazmín Barrios, noting that the defense continued to fail to present its final witnesses despite multiple requests to do so, said, in effect: "Time's up."

Ixil women lean forward as Judge Barrios announces final arguments will begin.

       Lead prosecutor Orlando Lopez from the Public Ministry, spoke for more than two hours in the afternoon, beginning a series of summations by placing former head of state Gen. Efraín Rios Montt at the head of a chain of command in 1982-83 when the army declared Ixil Maya the "internal enemy" and killed hundreds of unarmed men, women, and -- the majority of those documented in the present case -- children under age twelve. The process, called here "The Trial of the Century," is on its way to a proper end, no matter what the verdict, instead of dying of suffocation under what the bench itself called a blanket of "delaying tactics" by the defense.

The Prosecution used bar graphs, pie charts and diagrams to illustrate final arguments

       This development had been not at all clear at the beginning of the day.
     In a jaw-dropping demonstration of abuse, Ríos Montt's attorney Francisco Garcia Gudiel called judges "delinquents," questioned their intelligence, their preparation for the bench and the quality of principles by which they lived "from the cradle." He waved documents, addressed the audience instead of the bench, and pointed a menacing finger at judges.  "I will not rest until I see you in jail," he said.
     "We do not accept threats," said Tribunal President Jazmín Barrios.



      Yesterday Garcia called in sick, forcing Judge Barrios to delay the trial for 24 hours.  Today the prosecution showed security camera photos of Garcia at another court building at midday.  Garcia had suffered an attack of kidney stones "more painful than childbirth," he said, but by midday was feeling better.  When it was clear this afternoon that Judge Barrios was proceeding to summations, Garcia moved to have them delayed another day because he was "feeling very ill right now."  The judge said no.  Final arguments are expected to continue.
     Tonight at the old, central hotel where I stay, Ixiles are arriving from the highlands, sitting down to eat plates of spaghetti and beans, preparing for the court session tomorrow.  "Some thought the trial would not succeed, not with all the appeals and delays," said one survivor, Antonio Cabo Cabo.  "But I always knew we would go forward."

Man of the Hour, Prosecutor Orlando Lopez leaving court.

Seeing Red

Genocide Trial Judge Stands Her Ground

            Survivors wait for trial to continue.

            In the shortest session since the trial against former head of state Gen. Efraín Ríos Montt began March 19, Judge Jazmín Barrios declared three times in twenty minutes, "The trial is not annulled."
                Judge Barrios generally dresses in courtroom-appropriate muted colors.  Today she marched in wearing a blazing red dress.

Rios Montt waits for elevator.

            Decisions from other courts on complaints, accusations against magistrates including Barrios and demands for throwing out the case, on the part of the defense, have delayed the trial.  Today Ríos Montt's defense lawyer, Francisco Garcia Gudiel, called in sick.  Barrios said Gen. Ríos Montt could call back his two other defense lawyers, one a well-known former guerrilla, both of whom walked out with their briefcases on April 18 in a demonstration they called "peaceful resistance."  She called for debate to open again promptly in 24 hours.
     In the mid-1980s, when massacre survivors from Ixil country were either still wandering wildlands subsisting on grass and leaves, or undergoing re-education in model villages based on the U.S. Phoenix Program strategic hamlets system in Vietnam, a Guatemalan officer gave me his assessment of the origins of current local dress in the area of Nebaj, the area's largest town.  Spanish conquerers perceived the particularly rebellious nature of Indians there, he said, and had ordered them to wear red.  

Observers were still arriving when the session ended, only 20 minutes after it had begun.  Journalist Xeni Jardin tweeted from the courtroom, "...if you want to know what's going on with this trial don't ask a lawyer.  Hire a psychic."

Good Bye to the Turtle and Snail

The Question of Speed at the Genocide Trial

Down from the dias to watch a video presented by the defense, tribunal magistrates sit flanked by bodyguards.

After thirty years in which survivors waited to tell their stories in court, the genocide trial of former Guatemala head of state Gen. Efrain Rios Montt is raising the question of speed.  Tribunal President Jazmín Barrios (above, center) ordered twelve witnesses a day heard in the early days of the process, which began Mar. 19.  In the Srebrenica and Rwanda genocide trials, a single witness sometimes took the stand for more than a day. In Guatemala, have witnesses delivered testimony in a manner more redolent of a truth commission than a trial?  The world has seen so few truth commissions or genocide trials -- this is the first anywhere of a head of state charged in the national courts where the alleged crime happened -- that comparisons can be shaky. 

Gen. Rios Montt takes a moment to greet co-defendant and former  intelligence chief,  Gen. Mauricio Rodriguez, seated.

The defense, which has introduced numerous motions to delay the trial or suspend it completely, says Barrios' pace violates the rights of the accused.  Atty. Francisco Garcia Gudiel tried so vehemently on day one to have Barrios taken off the case he was tossed out of court and reinstated only nineteen sessions later, and now says he has not had time to review what happened when he was gone. (Competent counsel acted meanwhile.)  Defense attorneys picked up their briefcases and walked out on April 18 in a show of "peaceful resistance" to the way things were going, and a public defender appointed by the court has asked for more time to review files.  In comments to reporters about what the trial should not be, Garcia Gurdiel used the term "horse race." Zury Rios, a former Congress member, has become the voice of her father, who has not made public statements. "Why the hurry?" she asked in an interview with the El Salvadoran El Faro. Barrios begins sessions promptly at 8:30 a.m. five days a week, never allowing more than an hour for lunch, sometimes running past five p.m. "Why the interest in accelerating this trial?," said Rios. Other cases have met only Monday through Thursday, "but never past three-thirty in the afternoon."  

Defense table with trial files, too much material to review quickly complain lawyers.

El Periodico columnist Jorge Jacobs, who calls those prosecuting the general "groups descended from the ex-guerrilla," says the trial is hurtling toward a pre-determined guilty verdict, suspiciously fast "in a country where the rhythm of justice has always seemed a race with speed between that of turtles and snails."

 Judge Barrios has often guided witnesses to answer only questions put to them, intervening when they stray off point by her measures.  She has emphasized the legal requirement of the straightforward, undelayed process. An observer who follows the case closely said Barrios wants to move apace also because "she has a sword over her head," petitions in various courts that could, if and when decided, delay or derail the trial completely.  On April 19 a judge in another court "nullified" the trial, and ten days passed before Barrios regained control.  

The trial has only to hear six more witnesses for the defense and listen to closing arguments, which Barrios has limited to four hours on each side. Yesterday lawyers for the generals said they could not produce witnesses immediately.

Barrios reprimanded the defense for delaying tactics, reading to them parts of the judicial code of ethics from the bench.  While being scolded, Garcia Gudiel (seated right) tapped his fingers, finally bending his head to fiddle with a pen.

Barrios granted a recess until Tues., May 7.

Street graffiti, a block away from court building where genocide trial is being held
"Here the dead continue to live"