Logos group names Walter Wangerin Author of the Year Print
Written by Natalie Gillespie   
Tuesday, 28 June 2016 11:17 PM America/New_York

WalterWangerinBest-selling author Walter Wangerin was named Author of the Year at the Association of Logos Bookstores' 42nd annual meeting last weekend in Cincinnati. A Lutheran pastor and National Book Award winner, Wangerin, who previously won Book of the Year twice from the Logos stores, is known for works such as The Book of the Dun Cow, Book of God and Letters From the Land of Cancer. His most recent work is Everlasting Is the Past.

Logos also presented its annual Logos Book Awards and its Outstanding Rep “Attitude of Gratitude” Awards.

More than half of the association’s 17 stores attended the event ahead of CBA's Unite 2016. They spent time in prayer together, heard from authors and key industry leaders, and enjoyed a riverboat cruise. At a meet-and-greet with the Christian Authors Network, retailers heard from authors such as Jeanette Windle, Karen Whiting and Bill Farrel, and received signed copies from at least a dozen authors.

“The best part is just getting to spend time with each other and talk about what is working and what is not working in our stores,” said Logos member Carl Ashizawa, owner of Logos Bookstore of Hawaii in Honolulu. “It also helps tremendously to hear from the authors, to get to know them a little bit and hear why they wrote their books so we can share with our customers.”

Logos Executive Director Becky Gorczyca said she is proud that Logos retailers are still part of the Christian retail market and remembers the days when Logos stores heard presentations from Jim Carlson, Willard Dickerson and Jeff Crosby.

Winners of the 2016 Logos Book Awards included the following:

Preaching by Timothy Keller (Viking Penguin) – Theology, Doctrine, Reference

The Songs of Jesus by Timothy Keller (Viking Penguin) – Spirituality, Devotional

The Listening Life by Adam S. McHugh (InterVarsity Press) – Christian Living

Good Faith by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyon (Baker Books) – Christianity/Culture

The Girl From the Train by Irma Joubert (Thomas Nelson) – Fiction

The Story of God’s Love for You by Sally Lloyd-Jones (Zondervan) – Youth

The Biggest Story by Kevin DeYoung (Crossway) – Children’s Picture Books

The Outstanding Rep Awards for 2016 went to the following:

Marcia Austin of Abbey Press

Gary Sipes of B&H Publishing Group

Scott Polak of Bob Siemon Designs

Connie Hall of Crossway

Robert Splinter of Group Publishing

Dean Cook, Regina Hughes, Dan Van Gorp, Gary Comeforo, Jeff Miller, Larry Avery and Pamela Satterfield of HarperCollins Christian Publishing

Rick Aylestock of IntegriTeam

Ken Shirek of Magi Marketing

Jerry Gortmaker (two store nominations) and Ted Terry of Noble Marketing

Sarah O’Dwyer of Paper Trends

Tim VanderKolk of Penguin Random House

Harley Rollins of Rollins/Pilot

Mary Lou Alexander of Spring Arbor (three store nominations)

Dave Salzmann (two store nominations) and Troy Baker of Tyndale House Publishers