2011 Feature Writing Pulitzer Prize: Amy Ellis Nut,
Star Ledger, Newark
The Wreck of the Lady Mary is a chilling and detailed account of a commercial fishing boat's mysterious demise that left six of the seven fisherman dead in the Atlantic. I was drawn to the story because of its mystery as well as the creative narrative Nut tastefully carried throughout the project.
Nut did everything right when it came to this feature. First and foremost, she chose a topic full of action, suspense, mystery, faith, and the human experience. The parallels between the stories of the Lady Mary and the Titanic are undeniable, and they are both the kind of story that people cannot help but be infatuated with. Readers want answers, and a tragedy without invites readers to draw their own conclusion. Stories like this and the Titanic let the reader wonder "what if?" "if only", and lets them go inside the story rather than being on the outside looking in. When Nut teases "the only other information that is known for certain is that a phone call was placed from the Lady Mary at 5:17," the reader is not going to stop reading until he/she knows what that phone call was about.
Nut attacked this story from every possible angle it paid off. What makes this a first place project is Nut's ability to flood the reader with facts and information without ever sounding tedious or scientific. The way in which so many facts and figures are inserted tastefully within profound narrative and professional reporting is truly brilliant. The kind of story Nut chose, the way she prepared for it, and the way she wrote it equally contribute to its Pulitzer Prize winning quality.
Nut's narrative is present throughout the feature, yet never overbearing. Little moments of observation like "drowning, more than anything else, is kind of like a quick suffocation." Adding moments like this during a vivid flashback makes this more than just a news story, but also a narrative on life. We get moments like this throughout the feature, and they bring a quality of compassion that is appropriate when dealing with grief and loss
This story benefits both the reader and the news organization in various ways. This story gives the reader everything they could ask for when it comes to journalism. We get drama, suspense, mystery, hope, heroics, and tragedy. There is a cosmic moment that is central in this story, the miracle that kept the lone survivor alive to tell his story. Jose Arias was the only one of 7 fisherman to survive, all because of chance. When getting on the Lady Mary before leaving the port, he found a 8 foot piece of plywood sitting on the dock, and brought it on board to use for repairs. He never got around to using it, until he was drowning in hyperthermic waters above the sinking Lady Mary. The driftwood appeared beside Arias, who used his last ounce of energy to attach himself to the floating wood. Fate, chance, luck, divine intervention- whatever you want to call it- moments like this give readers hope and comfort in our world.
The structure of the story was composed of flashbacks and different points of view, from the victims families to the rescue workers to the Coast Guard hearings after the sinking. Nut is strategic in never losing the reader despite the jumping around, instead she strings them along and captivates their attention from start to finish.
What surprised me was the similarities between the sinking of the Lady Mary and the Titanic. Both ships could have been spared casualties if their S.O.S. calls for help had been taken seriously and pursued. It surprised me that almost 100 years after the Titanic, careless errors are still being made out at sea every day. It also surprised me that I had never heard about the Lady Mary until reading this. I was also surprised to find out that the sinking was most likely caused by an unreported collision with another commercial boat, and that incidents like that are more common than we realize. Overall I learned many things about writing, journalism, and controversial behavior happening on open waters that have tragic consequences.
