See also the announcement
of the winners & reviews on our website
To download the following release
(in Microsoft Word format), click here: NOBA03.doc
The following release consists
of three sections:
General
Release | Quick Summary of Winners | Complete
Reviews of Winners
Press Release
Contact: Ron Watters (wattron@isu.edu)
(208) 232-6857
2003 NATIONAL OUTDOOR BOOK AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED
The story of a mountaineer coming to grips with own his mortality is
the winner of the Literature Category of the 2003 National Outdoor Book
Awards.
In The Beckoning Silence, author Joe Simpson re-examines his
life as a risk-taker, and while doing so, he takes the reader on a series
of adventures ranging from the airy summits of Bolivia to the treacherous
North Face of the Eiger in the Alps. Simpson is one of the mountaineering
world's leading writers, and with this new book, he's clearly still very
much at the top of his game.
Adventure is also figured prominently in the winning book of the Nature
and Environment Category. In Ice Island author Gregory S.
Stone and a team of scientists and divers investigate the world's largest
iceberg. Richly illustrated and beautifully designed, Ice Island
is a marvelous story about adventure, science and future of humankind.
In the Design Category, an impressive photographic work on Maine's Acadia
National Park took top honors. Entitled First Light, the book
excels in all measures of an artistic achievement. From Tom Blagden's
inspiring and impassioned photography to the book's careful and sensitive
design, and to the printer's nearly perfect reproduction, this work sparkles
and dazzles.
These books are just three winners of this year's National Outdoor Book
Award and represent some of the finest outdoor writing and artwork being
published today. The program honors books across nine individual
categories.
The announcement of the winners was made at a special evening ceremony
at the International Conference on Outdoor Recreation and Education.
This year's conference was held in Orem, Utah.
NOBA is the largest and most prestigious national award program for
authors and publishers of outdoor books. The non-profit program is
sponsored by the NOBA Foundation, Idaho State University and the Association
of Outdoor Recreation and Education.
Here is a list of the winners.
Outdoor Literature. Winner. The Beckoning Silence.
By Joe Simpson. Published by The Mountaineers Books, Seattle.
ISBN 0898869412
Design and Artistic Merit. Winner. First Light: Acadia
National Park and Maine's Mount Desert Island. Photography by
Tom Blagden, Jr. Text by Charles R. Tyson, Jr. Published by
Westcliffe Publishers, Englewood, CO. ISBN 1565794729
Nature and the Environment. Winner. Ice Island: Expedition
to Antarctica's Largest Iceberg. By Gregory S. Stone. Published
by the New England Aquarium, Boston MA. ISBN 1593730179
History/Biography. Winner. Southern Exposure: A
Solo Sea Kayaking Journey Around New Zealand's South Island.
By Chris Duff. Published by Globe Pequot Press, Guilford, CT.
ISBN 0762725958
History/Biography. Honorable Mention. Women on High: Pioneers
of Mountaineering. By Rebecca A. Brown. Published by Appalachian
Mountain Club Books, Boston, MA. ISBN 192917313X
Outdoor Classic. Winner. Alone. By Richard
E. Byrd. Published by Island Press, Washington, DC. ISBN
1559634634
Children's Books. Winner. Dot and Jabber and the Big Bug Mystery.
By Ellen Stoll Walsh. Published by Hartcourt, Inc., New York.
ISBN 0152165185
Children's Books. Winner. Jam & Jelly by Holly & Nellie.
By Gloria Whelan. Illustrated by Gijsbert van Frankenhuyzen.
Published by Sleeping Bear Press, Chelsea, MI. ISBN 1585361097
Nature Guidebooks. Winner. Mammal Tracks and Sign: A
Guide to North American Species. By Mark Elbroch. Published
by Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA. ISBN 0811726266
Nature Guidebooks. Honorable Mention. The Rockfishes
of the Northeast Pacific. By Milton S. Love, Mary Yoklavich,
and Lyman Thorsteinson. Published by University of California Press,
Berkeley, CA. ISBN 0520234383
How-to/Instructional Category. Winner. Basic Canoeing:
All the Skills and Tools You Need to Get Started. By Jon Rounds
and Wayne Dickert. Photographs by Skip Brown. Illustrations
by Taina Litwak. Published by Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA.
ISBN 01811726444
Outdoor Adventure Guidebooks. Winner. 100 Hikes in Yosemite
National Park. By Marc J. Soares. Published by The Mountaineers
Books, Seattle. ISBN 089886867X
Outdoor Adventure Guidebooks. Honorable Mention. 100 Hikes in the
Inland Northwest: Eastern Washington, Northern Rockies, Wallowas.
By Rich Landers and the Spokane Mountaineers. Published by The Mountaineers
Books, Seattle. ISBN 0898869080
Outdoor Adventure Guidebooks. Honorable Mention. Trekking
Washington. By Mike Woodmansee. Published by The Mountaineers
Books, Seattle. ISBN 0898869048
Work of Significance. AMC White Mountain Guide: Hiking Trails
of the White Mountain National Forest. Compiled and Edited by Gene
Daniell and Steven D. Smith. Published by Appalachian Mountain Club
Books, Boston, MA. ISBN 1929173229
Full Reviews Follows . . .
Reviews of Winners of the 2003 National Outdoor Book Awards
Outdoor Literature. Winner. The Beckoning Silence.
By Joe Simpson. Published by The Mountaineers Books, Seattle.
ISBN 0898869412
This is the story of a mountaineer in the autumn of his career
coming to grips with his own mortality and dwindling physical resources.
An extraordinary storyteller, Joe Simpson takes us on a series of adventures
which span the globe, culminating in one final, career-ending climb of
the North Face of the Eiger. Simpson is at his best when the chips
are down and the line between life and disaster is stretched paper thin.
Hold onto your seat. In The Beckoning Silence, Simpson is
at his best.
Design and Artistic Merit. Winner. First Light: Acadia
National Park and Maine's Mount Desert Island. Photography by
Tom Blagden, Jr. Text by Charles R. Tyson, Jr. Published by
Westcliffe Publishers, Englewood, CO. ISBN 1565794729
First Light is one of those rare books that excels in
all measures of an artistic achievement. It's an impressive and fitting
tribute to Acadia, the Northeast's only national park. From Tom Blagden's
inspiring and impassioned photography to the book's careful and sensitive
design, and to the printer's nearly perfect reproduction, this work sparkles
and dazzles. Quite simply, First Light is a tour de force.
Nature and the Environment. Winner. Ice Island: Expedition
to Antarctica's Largest Iceberg. By Gregory S. Stone. Published
by the New England Aquarium, Boston MA. ISBN 1593730179
In the Year 2000, a mammoth iceberg calved off Antarctica's
Ross Ice Shelf. The iceberg, known as B-15 was the world's largest,
4,500 square miles in size and holding enough fresh water to supply the
United States for five years. This is the story of the team of scientists
and divers who set off in a small research ship named Braveheart to study
a portion of the iceberg. Richly illustrated and beautifully designed,
it's a marvelous story about adventure, science and the future of humankind.
History/Biography. Winner. Southern Exposure:
A Solo Sea Kayaking Journey Around New Zealand's South Island.
By Chris Duff. Published by Globe Pequot Press, Guilford, CT.
ISBN 0762725958
With this book, Chris Duff solidly establishes himself as a
leading voice in outdoor adventure writing. His previous work, On
Celtic Tides chronicled his circumnavigation of Ireland, but
in Southern Exposure, the stakes are higher. Here, the waves
loom larger, the shoreline more forbidding, and weather more unforgiving.
Duff is up to the task and has created an engrossing and mesmerizing account
that sweeps the reader along.
History/Biography. Honorable Mention. Women on High: Pioneers
of Mountaineering. By Rebecca A. Brown. Published by Appalachian
Mountain Club Books, Boston, MA ISBN 192917313X
This is a wonderful new addition to our understanding of the
history of women mountaineers. In Women on High, Rebecca Brown
chronicles the mountaineering exploits of a dozen or more women, nearly
all of whom climbed in the 1800's. While some of the women are known figures
in the mountaineering world, Brown's research has also turned up some new
interesting personalities and their stories.
Outdoor Classic. Winner. Alone. By Richard
E. Byrd. Published by Island Press, Washington, DC. ISBN
1559634634
Alone is the story of Richard Bryd's six months of isolation
in a remote weather station in Antarctica in 1933. The lack
of companionship, coupled with the long, black days of the interminable
polar winter, extract a mental and physical toll from Byrd. Yet there
is something else, some other sinister element at the root of the explorer's
deteriorating condition. Almost before it is too late, Byrd discovers
that he has been slowly poisoned by a carbon monoxide leak from a defective
stove installation. Reissued by Island Press, this classic story
of Arctic adventure is now available to a new generation of readers.
Children's Books. Winner. Dot and Jabber and the Big Bug
Mystery. By Ellen Stoll Walsh. Published by Hartcourt,
Inc., New York. ISBN 0152165185
Dot and Jabber are mice--mighty dapper looking mice, we might
add--and they have an interesting vocation. They are detectives.
Their job in the Big Bug Mystery is to find out what happened to
all the bugs in the meadow that have suddenly disappeared. There's
no mystery, however, about this sweetly written and illustrated book.
It's a winner and will excite the imaginations of pre-school and kindergarten
aged children.
Children's Books. Winner. Jam & Jelly by Holly &
Nellie. By Gloria Whelan. Illustrated by Gijsbert van Frankenhuyzen.
Published by Sleeping Bear Press, Chelsea, MI. ISBN 1585361097
This story is about a young girl, Holly, whose family lives
in the country in the upper Midwest. It is a particularly difficult
time for the family and there's little money available to purchase Holly
a coat for the winter. Then Nellie, Holly's mother comes up with
an idea: they'll pick berries and sell jam and jelly. What makes
this book work so well is the harmony between Gloria Whelan's realistic
and nuanced prose and Frankenhuysen's bright and animated character studies.
For ages 4-10.
Nature Guidebooks. Winner. Mammal Tracks and Sign:
A Guide to North American Species. By Mark Elbroch. Published
by Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA. ISBN 0811726266
Mammal Tracks and Sign is one of the most thorough and
complete guides to animal tracking ever published. Going beyond where
other books leave off, it combines text, drawings, maps and more than 1,000
color photos to unravel the mysteries of North American mammal tracks and
signs. Mark Elbroch has poured himself into this book, writing the
text, taking the photos and preparing the drawings. It's a monumental
effort and an invaluable reference for anyone who enjoys tracking and viewing
wildlife.
Nature Guidebooks. Honorable Mention. The Rockfishes
of the Northeast Pacific. By Milton S. Love, Mary Yoklavich,
and Lyman Thorsteinson. Published by University of California Press,
Berkeley, CA. ISBN 0520234383
Who says that scientists can't have a little fun? This
400-page, well-illustrated and scrupulously scientific book is a significant
contribution to our understanding of the rockfishes. It's also a
delight to read.
How-to/Instructional Category. Winner. Basic Canoeing:
All the Skills and Tools You Need to Get Started. By Jon Rounds
and Wayne Dickert. Photographs by Skip Brown. Illustrations
by Taina Litwak. Published by Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA.
ISBN 01811726444
This intelligently conceived book starts from the beginning
and takes you step-by-step through the techniques of canoeing. Basic
Canoeing stands out with its clear writing, effective design, and the
liberal use of photographs and illustrations.
Outdoor Adventure Guidebooks. Winner. 100 Hikes in
Yosemite National Park. By Marc J. Soares. Published by
The Mountaineers Books, Seattle. ISBN 089886867X
Yosemite is a thoughtfully designed, full-color guide to Yosemite
National Park and surrounding areas. The book's colorful, three dimensional
maps aid in planing your hikes and give you a birds-eye view of the lay
of the land.
Outdoor Adventure Guidebooks. Honorable Mention. 100 Hikes
in the Inland Northwest: Eastern Washington, Northern Rockies, Wallowas.
By Rich Landers and the Spokane Mountaineers. Published by The Mountaineers
Books, Seattle. ISBN 0898869080
Outdoor columnist, Rich Landers in combination with the Spokane
Mountaineers, has penned the perfect companion for hiking in the Northern
Rockies. Deeply concerned about the outdoor environment, Landers
not only writes about it, but he acts too, donating all proceeds from the
sale of the book to trail maintenance.
Outdoor Adventure Guidebooks. Honorable Mention. Trekking
Washington. By Mike Woodmansee. Published by The Mountaineers
Books, Seattle. ISBN 0898869048
This attractive guide, illustrated with color photos and a
new type of shaded-relief map, is designed for long distance hikers.
Treks start at 30 miles in length and run to 240 miles.
Work of Significance. AMC White Mountain Guide: Hiking
Trails of the White Mountain National Forest. Compiled and Edited by
Gene Daniell and Steven D. Smith. Published by Appalachian Mountain
Club Books, Boston, MA. ISBN 1929173229
The White Mountain Guide is the oldest continuously
published hiking guide in the United States. First published in 1907,
it has led the way for generations of hikers through the White Mountains
of Maine and New Hampshire. If it's not quite gospel, it's darn close.
No space is wasted: no graphics, no photos, and no nonsense. Just
reliable and accurate information. With six full-color, pull-out
maps, it is a ready-to-go package.
Complete reviews of the books and more information on the awards program
are found on the National Outdoor Book Award website at: www.isu.edu/outdoor/books.
# # #
To download the above release (in Microsoft Word format), click here:
NOBA03.doc
If you are unable to use
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Cover Scans of
all 2003 Winning Books
For your convenience, we have made high resolution
scans of all 2003 NOBA winners. The covers were scanned with a graphic-quality
scanner at 300 dpi, a resolution suitable for most print media work.* All
scans were saved in a TIFF file format. A zip file with all
scans is also available. To download, click on one or more of
the following:
Literature Category. Winner: The
Beckoning Silence - zip
file
Design and Artistic Merit. Winner: First
Light - zip
file
Nature and the Environment Winner: Ice
Island - zip
file
History/Biography Winner: Southern
Exposure - zip
file
History/Biography. Honorable Mention. Women
on High - zip
file
Outdoor Classic. Winner: Alone-
zip
file
Children's Books. Winner: Dot
and Jabber and the Big Bug Mystery - zip
file
Children's Books. Winner: Jam
& Jelly by Holly & Nellie - zip
file
Nature Guidebooks. Winner: Mammal
Tracks and Sign - zip
file
Nature Guidebooks. Honorable Mention: The
Rockfishes of the NE Pacific - zip
file
How-to/Instructional Category. Winner: Basic
Canoeing - zip
file
Outdoor Adventure Guidebooks. Winner: 100
Hikes in Yosemite - zip
file
Outdoor Adventure Guidebooks. Hon Mention: 100
Hikes in the Inland NW - zip
file
Outdoor Adventure Guidebooks. Honorable Mention: Trekking
Washington - zip
file
Work of Significance: White
Mountain Guide - zip
file
Zip file of the covers of all winning books above
(18,000 kb): noba03sc.zip
National Outdoor Book Awards Medallion
* Low resolution (72 dpi) scans suitable for website
images are also available: 2003
Winners.
|
NOBA Medallion
