A story about a Nelson woman who survived the Frank Slide but struggled to escape the notoriety it brought her has earned a Ma Murray Award for a Star contributor.
Castlegar resident Sam McBride was named the winner of the Neville Shanks Memorial Award for Historical Writing during a gala ceremony on Saturday in Richmond.
McBride's story, "The Nelson woman who HATED being famous," was published May 1, 2015 and profiled Marion McPhail, a piano teacher from whom McBride took lessons as a child.
Other nominees in the category were Frank Peebles of the Prince George Citizen and Alison Taylor, Clare Ogilvie, and Jon Parris of Whistler’s Pique news magazine.
For the Star, McBride has also written about the Dewdney Trail, the 1956 Nelson High School yearbook, and most recently, Thomas d'Aquino.
He is also the author of The Bravest Canadian, a biography of his great uncle, Capt. Fritz Peters.
Neville Shanks was the founder and publisher of the North Island Gazette. He wrote numerous articles on local pioneers.
The Ma Murray Awards recognize excellence in BC and Yukon community newspapers.