Accent staff wins national awards

The Palm Beach Post’s features section won seven writing awards awards Tuesday from the Society of Features Journalism. That was the third-highest number of awards of all newspapers in The Post’s size category, newspapers under 90,000 print circulation.

Culture editor Larry Aydlette won two secondplace awards. One was for General Feature with his story, “The Centerfold Next Door,” about the “oldest living Playboy Playmate,” who lives in Lake Worth.

That story plus two other profiles also won Aydlette second place in the Features Specialty Writing Portfolio category.

“His writing is crisp and evocative, his subjects compelling, his profiles mustreads,” judges said of Aydlette’s profiles.

Food editor Liz Balmaseda won second place in the General Commentary Portfolio for her food columns, and Leslie Gray Streeter won third place in the same category for her columns.

Eliot Kleinberg won third place in the General Feature category for “A Final Salute to a Fallen Father,” about a decades-old military plane crash, told through the eyes of the surviving children.

Photojournalist Thomas Cordy won third place in Video Storytelling for “Godzilla, Who Protected Florida From Hurricanes, Is Dead.” Judges liked the video’s playful tone.

Features writer Barbara Marshall won an honorable mention in the Features Specialty Writing Portfolio category.

The Palm Beach Post’s features staff has been consistently honored by the Society of Features Journalism for 25 years.