Author Bruce Barcott has won the inaugural, bi-annual Gene E. & Adele R. Malott Prize for Recording Community Activism. Barcott will receive a $1500 prize and an additional $1,000 will be donated to support community activism.

According to the release, Langum Charitable Trust, an Alabama-based private operating foundation, gave the prize for Barcott's book, "The Last Flight of the Scarlet Macaw: One Woman's Fight to Save the World's Most Beautiful Bird." The trust also administers two other writing prizes: the David J. Langum, Sr. Prize in American Historical Fiction and the David J. Langum, Sr. Prize in American Legal History or Biography.

Here's a statement from David J. Langum, Sr., from the release: "Barcott's book exemplifies the journalistic values which Gene and Adele Malott wanted to encourage and recognize. The book gives the reader a deeper understanding of the spirit of the activist, and the dedication it takes to fight for a cause."