Press Release

Patti Waldmeir Wins the 1998 New York Public Library Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism

The Award Goes to Anatomy of a Miracle: The End of Apartheid and the Birth of the New South Africa

New York City, May 5, 1998 ­ The New York Public Library last night announced the winner of The 1998 New York Public Library Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism. Author Patti Waldmeir won the award, which carries a $15,000 prize, for Anatomy of a Miracle: The End of Apartheid and the Birth of the New South Africa (W.W. Norton and Company).

The award was presented to Ms. Waldmeir at an evening reception, hosted by Dr. Paul LeClerc, President of The New York Public Library, in the Trustees Room of the Center for the Humanities, Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street. Dr. LeClerc and James Hoge, Member of the Book Award Selection Committee, jointly presented the award to Ms. Waldmeir. And for the first time this year, each of the other four Finalists received an Honorable Mention accompanied by a $1,000 prize. Helen Bernstein, in whose honor the Award is named, attended the ceremony.

The New York Public Library Helen Bernstein Book Award is given annually to an outstanding journalist whose book has made an impact on public consciousness, events, or policy. It is one of the largest annual literary prizes awarded in the United States.

In Anatomy of a Miracle: The End of Apartheid and the Birth of the New South Africa, Patti Waldmeir illuminates the forces of history, economics, demographics, and morality that led to the emergence of a new South Africa, ending 350 years of apartheid. As an American journalist covering South Africa for ten years, Ms. Waldmeir witnessed this extraordinary transformation first-hand, interviewing Nelson Mandela, P.W. Botha, F.W. de Klerk, Chief Buthelezi, and many others. From 1989 to 1995, she was bureau chief of the Financial Times in Johannesburg.

1998 Award Finalists
In addition to Ms. Waldmeir, the Finalists for the 1998 New York Public Library Helen Bernstein Book Award were William Broad, The Universe Below: Discovering the Secrets of the Deep Sea (Simon & Schuster); Linda Bird Francke, Ground Zero: The Gender Wars in the Military (Simon & Schuster); William Greider, One World, Ready or Not: The Manic Logic of Global Capitalism (Simon & Schuster); and Michelangelo Signorile, Life Outside: The Signorile Report on Gay Men: Sex, Drugs, Muscles, and the Passages of Life (HarperCollins Publishers).

These books and previous Winners and Finalists can be purchased through The New York Public Library's Online Bookstore.

The Selection Process
Approximately 180 publishers and editors of major newspapers and magazines and publishing house executives nationwide were invited to submit nominations for the award. More than 50 nominations were received and reviewed, resulting in the five Finalists.

An independent selection committee comprised of professional journalists and publishers and chaired by Osborn Elliott, Chairman of the Citizens Committee for New York City, Inc., then chose the winner. The other members of the 1998 selection committee were: Carl Bernstein, writer and journalist; James F. Hoge, Jr., Editor, Foreign Affairs; Harold W. McGraw III, President and Chief Operating Officer, The McGraw-Hill Companies; Henry Muller, Editorial Director, Time, Inc.; David Remnick, author and contributor, The New Yorker; Alair Townsend, Publisher, Crain's New York Business; Isabel Wilkerson, senior writer for The New York Times, Chicago Bureau; and Judy Woodruff, Anchor, Senior Correspondent, CNN.

About the Award
The New York Public Library Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism was established in 1987 as part of a generous gift to The New York Public Library from Helen Bernstein. The gift included an endowment for the position of Helen Bernstein Chief Librarian for Periodicals and Journals, in the General Research Division of the Library. The chair is currently held by Stewart Bodner, who oversees the Periodicals Section's collection of 11,500 current periodicals in 24 languages. This collection is used by some 60,000 researchers annually and is an invaluable resource for writers, artists, journalists, broadcasters, business people, and students.

Previous Winners
This year marks the eleventh year that The New York Public Library Helen Bernstein Book Award has been given to an outstanding journalist. Previous winners are:

• 1997 - David Quammen, for The Song of the Dodo: Island Biogeography in an Age of Extinctions
• 1996 - Tina Rosenberg, for The Haunted Land: Facing Europe's Ghosts After Communism
• 1995 - Joseph Nocera, for A Piece of the Action: How the Middle Class Joined the Money Class
• 1994 - David Remnick, for Lenin's Tomb: The Last Days of the Soviet Empire
• 1993 - Samuel Freedman, for Upon This Rock: The Miracles of a Black Church
• 1992 - Alex P. Kotlowitz, for There Are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing Up in the Other America
• 1991 - Nicholas Lemann, for The Promised Land: The Great Black Migration and How It Changed America
• 1990 - Thomas Friedman, for From Beirut to Jerusalem
• 1989 - Judy Woodruff, for her series of television reports focusing on the Iran-Contra affair
• 1988 - James Reston, in special recognition of his 50-year contribution to journalism

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thoerenz: pro: 5-5-98
revised: 8-11-98