July 1, 2024
Just Saying…
By Q.C. Jones
Award Winning Journalist—Maybe, Maybe Not
Recently QC Jones won an award for writing. The whole thing put me into a bit of a spin. Your pal, QC, who never suffers from the ailment of false modesty, has been torn massive braggadocio and embarrassed blushing. It might even be said my ever-present cowboy hat is fitting a little snugger because of big-head disease. But I could barely wait to share the news. Let’s say it one more time, QC Jones is an award-winning writer.
To add a little perspective to the whole affair, I fired up my trusty computer and did a quick Google search for Journalistic Awards. There are many notable awards, and it might be fun to explore a few that I didn’t win.
The Nobel Prize for Literature was the first award that jumped out at me. Like a smoldering smorgasbord, a smelly pile of Lutfisk, or briny dab of fish eggs parading as “Kaviar,” the Nobel thing a product of Sweden. Not only would it have been fun to win for bragging rights, but it also comes with a check for a cool million bucks and laurels out the ying-yang. However, there is one disturbing thing, the award goes to writers of “the most outstanding work in an ideal direction.” While QC might be referred to as “out standing” in the rain nothing I have ever written is of an ideal direction. I guess I was doomed and disqualified from the start.
The Commonwealth Writer’s Prize is prestigious and rolls of the tongue with a bad Britt accent and great fanfare. Sadly, their award only goes to writers in the UK and former British Colonies referred to as the British Commonwealth. American writers including your pal QC don’t count. Apparently, this is a leftover from the times when King George found the original colonies to be rather revolting. They would find my writing similarly revolting.
I know what you are thinking, who cares about winning some foreign award. They probably couldn’t even point to the Quad-Cities on a globe if their life depended on it. And, to coin a phrase, QC Jones is QC famous. So, let’s shuffle over to the big American Award Presentations.
The Pen/Faulkner Award is an annual deal that recognizes important writers in the field of fiction. I have always lived by the theorem truth is stranger than fiction, and as strange as some of my stories are, they typically contain at least a small dash of truth. Well darn-it another award opportunity down the drain.
The Pulitzer Prize is an annual award that recognizes outstanding work in journalism, literature, and music. There are numerous awards presented under this famous moniker. Prizes presented for works in breaking news, investigative reporting, explanatory reporting, feature writing, and even editorial cartooning. I thought I was onto something.
With all these options one would think the words of “Just saying…” would find a home. As they say, the truth is always in the small print. Try as I might to find just the right space to capture and bring home the coveted prize. They overlooked a category for almost illiterate hillbillies with a bent for bad grammar; not to mention bad attitude.
Continuing my rant on the Pulitzer Prize people, there are two important points to mention. First, the founder of the Pulitzer awards was a gentleman publisher named Joseph Pulitzer who published the St. Louis Post Dispatch and the New York World. Old Joe left an endowment to (using the official, and rather snooty name) Columbia University in the City of New York.
As a point of local interest, our own Lee Enterprises purchased the Pulitzer publishing empire back in 2005. With all my connections to sport coat wearing Lee bigwigs one would have thought they might have some influence, but Columbia runs the show. This translates into a bunch of New Yorkers. For some reason, those people in NYC don’t like me, and some day QC will publicly drag the whole 8.8 million residents of the “Naked City” through the mud.
Now back to the award-winning story. This episode marks the 101st time that QC Jones has graced/maligned the pages of 50+ Lifestyles. Along the way I have covered topics ranging from temperance to tombstones, from barn yards to bar stools, and even tossed in a few historical oddities to boot. I launched a special holiday called “QC Readers buy him Drinks Day” which attracted three fans. But awards of any kind have managed to maintain a safe distance, until May 2024 when your (not so) humble QC Jones won a medal for writing in the QC Senior Olympics.
From this point forward, my journalistic by-line will contain the words “Wonderful and Award Winning.”
Just Saying… QC Jones
