As part of the ASJA conference festivities, president Jack El-Hai kicked off the annual awards ceremony. More than 40 books and 150 articles from the ASJA's 1200 members were nominated for 13 different awards. Two of the winning articles were ones that I read last year and that moved me, "All the Wrong Men" by Janine Latus, which ran in O in October 2005, and "Will We Ever Arrive at a Good Death" by Robin Marantz Henig, which ran in the New York Times Magazine on August 7, 2005.

It's always great to see talented people being recognized, but it's more fun for folks in the audience if they have read the article (or seen the movie, or downloaded the song). I loved those deep reporting and strong conclusions in those stories when I read them, and I was happy to see that their writers' won.

The complete winners list isn't on the ASJA site yet, but I'll post it when it is up.