Tom Hallman Jr.

Pulitzer Winners Donate Money

Tom — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 14:35:56 +0000

I met Michael Berens years ago when we were both Pulitzer Finalists. We lost when the board moved an entry into our category and that turned out to be the winner. We’ve kept in touch over the years, and Berens and his writing partner, Ken Armstrong, were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for their work at the Seattle Times.

They have donated their prize money — $10,000 — to pay for IRE training for fellow staffers in Seattle.

Two great reporters who are helping the next generation.

Tom,

The Apology

Tom — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 00:05:40 +0000

As of this afternoon, my Sunday story — what I am calling “The Apology” has nearly 8,000 Facebook shares and over 300 Tweets. The story has resonated with people, and they want to share it as they reflect on their lives and their past. I have received many calls and e-emails from people, many of them who said they cried when they read the story and felt the need to talk about it.

This should serve as a lesson on why stories — and newspapers — serve as a vital role in a community. Story is what gives us meaning and what can remind us of what it means to be human.

The best stories make us think and feel.

Later this week, I plan on talking more about the story behind this story.

Check back.

Tom

Power of Story

Tom — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 15:45:56 +0000

I have received overwhelming reader response to this piece. Check back here when I discuss the piece — thinking, reporting and structuring.

tom

Portland reading

Tom — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 21:35:10 +0000

I have a reading scheduled for April 26 at 7 p.m. at Portland’s Broadway Books, 1714 Northeast Broadway Street.

Things I like

Tom — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 23:21:22 +0000

I want to post two stories here that I like.

Here is one from Rebecca Alexander, a fine writer for a magazine in Baton Rouge, La.

The second is from Matt Russell, a writer at The Post-Bulletin in Rochester, Minn.

If you have something you are proud of, send me the link.

Tom

The Long Wait

Tom — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 15:30:22 +0000

This is the week the Pulitzer Prizes are selected and the wait for the three Finalists can be tense. I’ve been a Finalist twice and won the award once. Who made the final cut is a more closely-guarded secret now than when I was first a Finalist. Back in the day, it wasn’t unusual for a Finalist to learn he or she was in the running for within a day or two after the Pulitzer Jurors selected the top three entries. That meant almost a month of thinking about the award.

The final judging takes place on a Friday, with the official announcement coming on a Monday — this year on April 16. So on by Friday afternoon, the winner has been selected. To ease the blow of losing, a Finalist is typically told by an editor that day. If you don’t hear, well, that is supposed to be good news because you will learn Monday.

The first time I was a Finalist my editor told me to get out of the newsroom. I was too nervous and he said he’d keep me informed. I walked down the street to a Starbucks and drank coffee. He handed me a cell phone — a big deal back then — and told me to sit tight. An hour later, he walked into the coffee shop and told me that I’d lost. The board — as is their right — had moved an entry into my category — and that was the year’s winner.

The second time I was at home, the day over, and I took it as good news because I heard nothing. Then my editor called me, told me to come back to the paper. He had something to ell me. I lost again.

The third time I got wised up and left Portland. I didn’t want to be in town. I stayed in Ocean Park, Washington, a small coastal town by myself and spent two days doing nothing by watching videos of the first two seasons of the Sopranos on a VCR.

Finally, the big day — Friday — rolled around.

I walked to Doc’s Tavern, a place that had pool tables, shuffleboard and a jukebox. I ordered pitchers of beer and put $15 in the jukebox and listened to Johnny Cash, Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson for several hours. I looked at the clock — 5 p.m. , 8 p.m. back East. The judging was over.

I walked back to the little house and waited for the phone to ring, ready to get the bad news.

Friday night — nothing

Saturday — nothing

Sunday — nothing.

Great news!

But then I checked the phone. It had been pulled from the wall. Even if my editor had tried calling me, the call wouldn’t have gone through.

I drove home and Sunday night made a few inquiries: Had anyone been trying to call me?

No.

And then Monday rolled around.

Book arrived

Tom — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 00:45:37 +0000

I got home today and found a package on my front porch. Inside were two hardcover copies of my new book, “A Stranger’s Gift: True Stories of Faith in Unexpected Places.”

Almost surreal to see the finished product, remembering how I sat at the dinning room table night after night working on the manuscript.

First Attempt at Fiction

Tom — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 06:14:15 +0000

Last week I finished my first short story, a mystery. It’s 7,000 words. I plan on sending it out to Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine in a week or so.

Awards Season

Tom — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 05:22:16 +0000

The Pulitzer Prize judges are wrapping up their business back in New York City this week. By the end of Friday, they will have selected the official Pulitzer Prize Finalists in each of the journalism categories. The way it works is the judges sort through all the entries in a particular category — Features, for example — and come up with the top three, the official Finalists.

In past years, all the entries would be placed on a big table and the judges would read an entry. If they didn’t like it, they’d toss it on the floor. One of the best books about the Pulitzer Prizes was written by my former editor, Doug Bates. Each year I was a Finalist I studied his book in an attempt to peel back the mystery of what was going on. This year, the entries are electronic. Hitting the “delete” key just doesn’t have the romance thinking of an entry being tossed to the floor.

The award season — between late February and April — plays havoc with so many journalists. Anyone in this business knows what I am talking about. Share your story and I will post it — anonymously, if need be — on here.

The Pulitzer Board will meet in April and select the winner in each category.

The two who didn’t make it will feel like they lost. I certainly did, even though many journalists go through a career without ever being a Finalist.

The year I won, I wrote this piece.

Tom

Writing Wisdom

Tom — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 19:40:06 +0000

We’re about to enter award season — that time of the year where our stories are judged. As a matter of fact, I’ve got a packet of stories that I am going to judge this week. As someone who has won — and lost — awards I bring a certain perspective about what these awards mean.

And, more importantly, what they don’t mean.

Check back here later this week and I’ll tell you two stories about the Pulitzer Prize. I’ll tell you about the time I won, of course. But more importantly, I will tell about what I learned when I lost.

Tell me about the award — big or small — that you won, or lost.

I’ll post a comment here.

Tom