Tim Cochrane, Grand Marais, the retired superintendent of the Grand Portage National Monument, was a finalist for the Minnesota Nonfiction category for his book, “Gichi Bitobig, Grand Marais: Early Accounts of the Anishinaabeg and the North Shore Fur Trade.”
Twin cities author Cary J. Griffith was also a finalist for the same award for, “Gunflint Burning: Fire in the Boundary Waters.”
Susan Bartlett Foote was the winner of the Minnesota Nonfiction category with her submission “The Crusade for Forgotten Souls: Reforming Minnesota’s Mental Institutions, 1946-1954.” Foote recounts Minnesota’s reform movement that broke the stigma surrounding mental illness, publicized the painful truth about the state’s asylums, and resulted in the first legislative steps toward a modern mental health system.
The other finalist in this category was: “The Children of Lincoln: White Paternalism and the Limits of Black Opportunity in Minnesota, 1860- 1876” by William D. Green.
The 2019 Minnesota Book Award honorees, courtesy of the publishers of Minnesota’s literary community, gathered Saturday night, April 6 in St. Paul for the 31st annual Minnesota Book Awards.
More than 220 works by Minnesota authors and poets, published in 2018, were submitted for the awards; a panel of judges narrowed that field down to 36 finalists in January.
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