Best reporting in any medium on environmental issues
AWARD DATE: 1994
AWARD NAME: The Whitman Bassow Award 1994
AWARD RECIPIENT: Richard Preston
AWARD RECIPIENT AFFILIATION: Random House
AWARD HONORED WORK: “The Hot Zone”
Richard Preston’s mesmerizing book is about the release of what could have been a virus that would make AIDS seem as tame as the common cold. It turned out that the particular strain did not endanger humans. But how many more such dangers lurk as rain forests are destroyed and humankind comes into contact with new organisms that have evolved in such places?
Citation for Excellence:
Peter Bull
ABC News-Turning Point
“The Untold Story of the Exxon Valdez”