Dan Fagin has won the Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism for his book Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation.
The book investigates childhood cancer clusters in a New Jersey town which were the result of toxic dumping and industrial pollution. The title has won the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction.
“I’m very grateful to Helen Bernstein and her family, and to the wonderful people at the New York Public Library for this recognition,” stated Fagin. “It’s truly humbling to be in the company of so many past Bernstein winners whose work I deeply admire, and also to be mentioned in the same sentence with my fellow finalists, all of whom have done extraordinary work under the most trying possible conditions. In spotlighting the deep reporting that so many of us are still trying to do, the Bernstein family and the New York Public Library are providing a crucial boost for long form nonfiction at a time when it is increasingly difficult to undertake, yet more crucial than ever to the future of our democracy. Thank you.”