Duluth, Minnesota - October 11, 2002

For the second year, Lake Superior Magazine of Duluth, Minnesota, and Senior Writer Hugh Bishop achieved something of an upset among international regional magazines, earning a first place Gold Award for historical feature in the annual competition of the International Regional Magazine Association (IRMA). The awards were given in Pray, Montana, at the association’s annual conference.

“Split Rock: Time’s Sentinel” from the magazine’s August/September 2001 issue topped about 20 magazine entries in the category of Historical Feature. This story of Split Rock Lighthouse’s history and current Minnesota Historical Society keepers kicked off the magazine’s now annual Lighthouse Collector Editions that continued in August/September 2002 with the story of the Apostle Islands lighthouses in Wisconsin.

Among members of IRMA are regional heavy-weights like Arizona Highways, Texas Parks & Wildlife, Beautiful British Columbia, Down East, Chesapeake Bay Magazine, Wisconsin Trails, Vermont Life and Adirondack Life. The largest press run for the group is 390,000 with and average of 66,000. As one of the smallest publications in the group, Lake Superior Magazine (circ. 20,000) was proud to earn a top honor in the Historical Feature category this year and was particularly delighted because it was the second year in a row that it earned that Gold Award. Hugh Bishop also earned the top spot in that category in 2001 with his story about the 25th anniversary of the Edmund Fitzgerald wreck.

The magazine’s staff also earned two Awards of Merit. James Marshall, chairman of the magazine, got the honor for his regular column “Lake Superior Journal.” Konnie LeMay, editor of the magazine, earned a merit award in the Profiles category for her story on three married couples who photograph Lake Superior professionally.

IRMA currently has more than 40 member magazines worldwide, with most members in the United States and Canada.

Lake Superior Magazine, a full-color consumer publication, is printed six times a year in Duluth, Minnesota. The magazine is available by subscription, at newsstands and from the publisher's office at 325 Lake Avenue South, Suite 600, Duluth, Minnesota 55802. For more information, call 888-BIG LAKE (244-5253) or log onto www.lakesuperior.com