LA Times Al Martinez – Honored With President’s Award By The Los Angeles Press Club.

Los Angeles Times columnist Al Martinez has been selected as this year’s recipient of the President’s Award, to be presented at the Los Angeles Press Club’s Southern California Journalism Awards on June 21.

The award is given annually to an individual who has had a substantial impact on journalism, the media and the greater community. Ted Johnson, president of the Los Angeles Press Club and a national writer at TV Guide, will present the award.

“For years, Al Martinez has so vividly captured the city, its larger-than-life figures and ordinary residents, with a combination of charm, wit and wisdom,” Johnson said. “His gift for insight and storytelling is unique in Los Angeles, and this award is long overdue.”

To be honored by one’s peers is the greatest of all honors, and I accept the Press Club’s award, if not with humility, at least great pleasure,” Martinez said. “Thank you for such a generous acknowledgment of my work.”

Martinez has been a columnist at the Los Angeles Times since 1984. Before that, he was a feature writer and reporter for the Times’ metro section from 1972 to 1984.

During this period, Martinez has won numerous awards. He shared a Pulitzer Prize for Meritorious Public Service in 1984 for a series on the Southern California Latino community, and contributed columns for the Times’ Pulitizer winning coverage of the riots in 1992 and earthquake in 1994.

He also has been honored as Print Journalist of the Year by the Chicano News Media Assn. in 2002, as well as a National Headliner Award for best column in 1988. The Society of Professional Journalists named him Journalist of the Year in 1996.

Martinez was a military writer, feature writer and columnist for the Oakland Tribune from 1955 to 1971. After a stint in the U.S. Marine Corps, he started his career as a feature writer and reporter for the Richmond (Calif.)
Independent in 1952.

Martinez has written nine books, including “City of Angles: A Driveby Portrait of LA” (St. Martin’s Press, 1996); “Rising Voices: A New Generation” (Nestle USA, 1994); “Dancing Under the Moon” (St. Martin’s Press, 1992) and “Ashes in the Rain” (TQS Publications, 1989). In November, St. Martins Press will publish “I’ll Be Damned if I Die in Oakland: A Sort of Travel Memoir.” The Los Angeles Times book imprint will soon publish “Reflections,” a collection of his columns.

In addition to journalism, Martinez also created three network television series and has 20 credits for writing TV movies. His 1992 TV movie, “Out on the Edge,” earned him an Emmy nomination.

Previous winners of the President’s Award include Bill Maher, Los Angeles Times Sacramento bureau chief Virginia Ellis and Adelphia public affairs host Bill Rosendahl.

For more information at http://www.lapressclub.org/