Travel writer Podolak honored

Longtime News-Herald writer Janet Podolak again has been honored by the Society of American Travel Writers for her work appearing in print and online in 2021. The winning stories ran in both The News-Herald and The Morning Journal.

She was awarded both second and third place in the category Best Newspaper Travel Article on an International Destination. Her Dec. 8 story about Dubrovnik and how the Croatian city is drawing many visitors coming to see its “Game of Thrones” sites got the second-place prize, while an Oct. 13 story about the Greek island of Santorini won third place.

Find those strories at bit. ly/nh-croatia and bit.ly/nhsantorini.

A second place in Best Travel Series Appearing in a Newspaper, Magazine or Travel Web Site went to Podolak for five stories developed from a cruise of the Greek islands she took in July 2021 with Celebrity Cruises. Both the Dubrovnik and Santorini stories were part of that series, along with pieces about the Celebrity ship Apex; the Parthenon in

Athens; and Akrotiri, an ancient city uncovered from a volcano on Santorini 3,500 years ago.

See those stories at bit. ly/apexcruise, bit.ly/nhparthenon and bit.ly/akrotiri-feature-21.

An April story won third place for Podolak in the Travel Commentary category with a story about her recollections of earlier visits to the Caribbean island of St. Vincent in the face of last year’s eruptions of a powerful volcano there.

See that story at bit.ly/ nh-stvincent.

The Central States Chapter competition for the Society

of American Travel Writers drew entries from writers published all over the world but living in the U.S. states of Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin.

Podolak, who lives in Mentor, writes for The News-Herald and The Morning Journal. She’s contributed to The NewsHerald since 1971 and has been an SATW member since 1990.

NEWS-HERALD FILE Dubrovnik’s exquisite fountains populate stone squares surrounded by Gothic and Renaissance buildings that served as the fictional King’s Landing in “Game of Thrones” episodes. This photo, taken by longtime travel writer Janet Podolak, accompanied her 2021 feature on the city. It was one of her stories from last year that earned her an award from the Society of American Travel Writers

Podolak