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Local author Steve Oney's And The Dead Shall Rise: The Murder of Mary Phagan & the Lynching of Leo Frank didn't quite win the $10,000 J. Anthony Lukas Prize Project for nonfiction writing. David Maraniss did for They Marched into Sunlight: War and Peace, Vietnam and America, October 1967, but the judges extolled finalist Oney's work (according to the press release):
An exemplary work of historical research and narrative by a masterly journalist...the book combines gripping courtroom narrative with a controlled, knowing exploration of themes of racial and religious tension, the nature of justice and the role of the press.
The prize is given by Columbia and the Nieman Foundation. Oney, by the way, speaks at the Los Angeles Central Library on Tuesday night as part of the Aloud series.