J. managing editor, wife capture top songwriting prize

Woody Weingarten, managing editor of j., and his wife, Nancy Fox, took first prize in the third annual Songwriters Convention held Sunday, Nov 14.

They were awarded $250. As part of their prize, the three-song medley they entered will be published in "Mother Earth International Journal," an anthology of current world poetry.

The contest was held at the SomArts Cultural Center in San Francisco. Herman Berlandt, director of the S.F.-based National Poetry Association and publisher of the Bolinas-based poetry anthology, emceed the event at which half a dozen finalists played their music live or on tape.

Fox wrote the music for the three original songs, "Inner Child," "When They Close the Book on Me" and "All of a Sudden You're 50." Weingarten and Fox collaborated on the lyrics. The songs are taken from their original musical revue, "Touching Up the Gray."

Last year, the duo won an honorary mention in a songwriting competition held at the Sonoma Arts Center.