Vegas Writer an Award Finalist

Geoff Schumacher, former city editor at the Las Vegas Sun who hired me as a newspaper reporter in 1993, learned earlier this month that his second book, Howard Hughes: Power, Paranoia & Palace Intrigue, is a finalist in the biography category of Foreword Magazine's Book of the Year Awards. That translates to Schumacher -- or "Shoe" as those of us in the newsroom used to call him -- making the short list in the independently published book contest. Winners will be announced May 29 at BookExpo America in New York City. In a year during uncertain financial times where practically all the news about the publishing industry is layoffs and downsizing, it's nice to see one of Las Vegas's own, a native and longtime local journalist, get kudos for his writing efforts.