The region’s heritage of pasty making earned thumbs up from an international panel of judges and translated into gold for Lake Superior Magazine. The magazine’s publishers and editors just returned from the coastal province of Nova Scotia with their award-winning catch: A Gold Medal for a Cultural Feature from the International Regional Magazine Association (IRMA).

“A Passion for Pasties” by Duluth writer Ann Treacy “managed to use the subject of meat pasties as a window into the culture and the region’s past, present and future,” said Carol Schwalbe, one of the judges and a former editor of National Geographic magazine. “Well researched and entertaining.”

IRMA has nearly 45 regional magazine members mainly from the United States and Canada. Some well-known members, such as Arizona Highways in the United States and Cottage Life in Canada create tough, top-quality competition.

“To win any award competing against the other IRMA magazines is a thrill,” said Lake Superior Magazine Editor Konnie LeMay. “To win a gold against these other fantastic publications feels like reaching the top of Mount Everest …  first.”

The other judges also praised the story by Ann Treacy, who is a frequent contributor to Lake Superior Magazine. “The humblest of topics gets a folksy tone to match, but accompanied by exhaustive reporting and a talent for story telling,” wrote judge Jim Sutherland of Vancouver, British Columbia, who has been a magazine writer and editor for 23 years.

“A Passion for Pasties” was a winner going into this year’s IRMA conference. November 2007 it won a Gold Award from Minnesota Magazine and Publications Association. The story appeared in the December/January 2007 issue of Lake Superior Magazine. IRMA award winners are revealed at the annual IRMA banquet, which is hosted by a different regional magazine each year. Lake Superior Magazine hosted the group in Duluth in 2006.

Lake Superior Magazine is the bimonthly publication of Lake Superior Port Cities Inc., a family-owned book and magazine publisher located at 310 E. Superior St., Duluth, MN 55802. Get information at 1-888-BIG LAKE (888-244-5253) or at www.lakesuperior.com.