Journalist and author Pete Hamill won the annual Best of Brooklyn, Inc. (BoBi) Award, a prize the recognizing a literary figure whose work embraces the Brooklyn spirit. In the video embedded above, Hamill spoke about the honor.
This past Sunday, readers from all over New York City headed to the seventh annual Brooklyn Book Festival. Since its inception, the festival has grown dramatically; this year’s event boasted more than 280 author appearances and scheduled more than 104 panels.
Here’s more from the release: “The eldest son of Irish immigrant parents, Pete Hamill was born in Park Slope, Brooklyn. He left school at age 16 to work in the Brooklyn Navy Yard and attend night classes at the Cartoonists and Illustrators School with the intent of becoming a comic book artist. After service in the U.S. Navy, he began his career as a journalist, and over the ensuing decades covered both domestic and international wars and conflicts. Hamill is the author of 18 books, including the best-selling A Drinking Life, the novels Snow in August, Tabloid City and Forever, and a collection of short stories, The Christmas Kid, to be released in October. He also served as editor-in-chief of the New York Post and the New York Daily News.”
Hamill calls New York City his home and several of his books are set in Brooklyn.
Some of the other writer participants at this year’s festival included actor Tony Danza, Wonder author R.J. Palacio and celebrated mystery novelist Carol Higgins Clark. Pulitzer Prize winner Jhumpa Lahiri won last year’s BoBi Award.