Journalism Awards to Honor Lukas

Beginning in 1999, Harvard's Nieman Foundation will co-administer a series of prizes and programs with the Columbia School of Journalism to honor J. Anthony Lukas '55, a two time Pulitzer prize winner who died last year.

Lukas, a former associate managing editor of The Crimson, explored social issues such as desegregation, drug abuse and class conflict through the close examination of individual lives.

Judges will award The J. Anthony Lukas Prize of $10,000 to the author of a book of narrative nonfiction and The J. Anthony Lukas Grant of $45,000 to the author of a nonfiction work-in-progress.

In addition, The Mark Lynton History Prize of $10,000 will be awarded to the author of a book of narrative history.

Along with the yearly award ceremonies, a symposium of speakers and seminars will be held alternately at Harvard and Columbia.

The program is co-chaired by Lukas' widow, Linda Healey, a vice president and senior editor at Pantheon Books, and Arthur Gelb, the president of The New York Times Foundation.

Gelb was the metropolitan editor at The New York Times in 1968 when Lukas won a Pulitzer Prize for his writing on the murder of Linda Fitzpatrick, a young, upper-class woman from Conn. who began a dual life amidst New York City's drug culture.

The family of Mark O.L. Lynton will fund the awards. Lynton, who published a memoir of his experiences as a British major during World War II, was an avid reader of history.

Healey said that although she did not previously know the Lyntons, they offered to fund the awards.

"It was a very happy marriage of mutual care for a kind of writing and books that have an impact on society as a whole," Healey said.

Healey said the awards and programs will further the legacy of Lukas, who organized writers' forums during his lifetime.

"Tony cared passionately about the art and craft of non-fiction writing...and the work of other writers--his peers and younger writers," Healey said.

Gelb said the programming will reflect Lukas' role as mentor.

"The whole idea is to open it up to young people," Gelb said.

Healey noted that Lukas had connection both to the Nieman Foundation, where he was a fellow in 1955 and later returned as a speaker, and to Columbia's School of Journalism, where he spoke to many classes.

In addition to Healey and Gelb, the programs will be overseen by a committee of nine members, which includes Alan Brinkley, an author and history professor at Columbia University; Nicholas Lemann, an author and Washington Editor of the Atlantic Monthly; Kari Marton, author and human rights activist and Vartan Gregorian, the president of The Carnegie Corporation and former president of Brown University.

Lukas won a second Pulitzer Prize in 1986 for his book, Common Ground, which examined the effects of busing intended to end de facto school segregation. The book chronicles the policy's effect on three Boston families.

Common Ground represents Lukas' journalistic legacy, said Brent A. Staples, a member of the prize committee and member of the Editorial Board at The New York Times.

"Tony contributed to the literature exhaustedly reported books that brought out the history of people and places," Staples said.

Healey said his approach reflected Lukas' concern for people.

"Tony really cared about people and he felt the in reporting on issues it was essential to look at the interaction between individuals and what the issue was," Healey said.

Gelb said that support for the project has been immense.

"Everyone will be contributing... Tony was so popular and admired as a writer," Gelb said.