And the winner is … not me, yet again

I came up empty again. No champagne toasts, no walk down the red carpet. Nope, no Rockower Awards for me this year. This week, the American Jewish Press Association handed out its annual Rockower Awards to honor the year's best work in the Jewish press. Of course, all you actually win is a piece of paper (kind of like those "Perfect Attendance" awards from the fifth grade). Unlike the lucrative Pulitzer Prize, the Rockowers are all about bragging rights.

I did win one three years ago, so I guess I can't complain about being shut out this year (though I'd love to). Instead, I will hand out my own statuettes, hereby dubbed the Golden Jack Awards (arbitrarily named for one of my cats), to those j. stories that most touched, amused and enlightened me over the past year.

Drum roll, please. Here are this year's first annual Golden Jack winners:

Most Emotionally Moving Assignment: a story on Jews with mental illness from last December. I was truly touched by the patients I interviewed. Just getting through the day is a challenge for them, but all were insightful, witty and brave.

Braggadocio Award for My Most Brilliant Headline: for a story about Jewish winemakers who play in a Hawaiian music band on the side, I came up with "Merloha." Runner up: for a movie review of a gritty '40s crime classic, "So near and yet so noir."

Most Surreal Moment: giving Sen. Barbara Boxer feedback on her novel, "A Time to Run." Every time she asked me what I thought about this or that character, I thought to myself, "Barbara Boxer is asking for my opinion?"

The Pinch-Me-I'm-Dreaming Award: For a piece on the new de Young Museum, I was given a grand tour of the San Francisco building a week before it opened. There we were, just my guide and me, alone with all that exquisite artwork. Is this the best job in the world or what?

Most Surprising Revelation: During my interview with actor Norman Hall, he casually revealed his day job: He's the last door-to-door Fuller Brush man in San Francisco. And I thought the Fuller Brush man went out with the Avon Lady, Brylcreem and Vitalis.

Best Actress: Tovah Feldshuh wins for her brilliant performance last summer portraying Golda Meir in "Golda's Balcony." Ms. Feldshuh couldn't be here, so I accept the Golden Jack on her behalf.

Flat-Out Most Amazing Story: I reviewed a book last year called "In Our Hearts We Were Giants," the true story of a family of seven Hungarian Jewish dwarves deported in 1944 to Auschwitz. There, the psychotic Dr. Joseph Mengele made them his "pets," performing cruel experiments on them, but leaving them generally unharmed. They even got to keep their own little people clothes. All survived the war and lived the rest of their lives in Israel. If Hollywood could ever figure out how to cast it, this would make a hell of a movie.

Most Hilarious Sound Bite: While covering a noisy anti-Israel demonstration in front of the Oakland Marriot (the annual AIPAC dinner was going on inside), I saw a homeless man come out of nowhere and sucker-punch a kaffiyeh-draped protester. As the cops busted the suspect, one officer asked him why he did it. He answered, "I did it for Oakland."

My Favorite Story: After a long struggle with infertility, Shelley Friedman and Tania Lowenthal, a Jewish lesbian couple, each bore a set of twins last October. Hanging out with Shelley, Tania and the four babies in their cozy Marin home, I thought I just might be in the presence of the happiest family I'd ever met.

Biggest Heartbreak: I've written two stories about Sophia Herzog Sachs, a Palo Alto toddler with a fatal genetic disorder. The first was about her parents' valiant battle to save her life. The other, on her funeral last summer. Who says journalists don't cry?

I don't have room for more categories, but in a way, every assignment is a Golden Jack winner. Day in and day out, I have the privilege of covering the Bay Area Jewish community in all its variegated kosher glory. And that is probably my biggest reward writing for this newspaper.

But rest assured, starting tomorrow I'm right back in the paper chase.




Dan Pine lives and kvetches in Albany. He can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)">.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).