Lake Superior Magazine's Achievement Award

After the publication of  Lake Superior: Story and Spirit, Lake Superior Magazine named John and Ann Mahan as recipients of Lake Superior Magazine's Achievement Award. The text of that announcement follows:

"Passion is one of those terms that often gets overused and applied erroneously to people who work on projects for a long and intense period of time. Just because works are complex doesn't mean that people work on them with passion. However, noted photographers John and Ann Mahan, of Gaylord, Michigan, have never worked on anything without a passion -- a love for what they are doing, well beyond the scope the average person considers. And thus, the publication of their book Lake Superior: Story and Spirit conveys that passion about their subject in a way we haven't seen for a long time.

This was a book that might not have been, except that John and Ann valiantly pushed the project far past the point at which it normally would have been cancelled. When the search for a suitable publisher proved unfruitful, they committed their personal holdings to the effort, always believing that the book's publication would be more than rewarded in the end. The name of their publishing company says, more than anything, how committed to the project they were: Sweetwater Visions.

It is a spectacular book full of the beautiful photography that the Mahans always produce. It also has meaningful text, again "passionate" in its descriptions and love for the greatest of lakes. It's a book full of history, facts, revelations and opinion. It can be a guide and a teacher. The Mahans have poured their souls into it, and the Lake Superior community reaps the benefit.

The annual Lake Superior Magazine Achievement Award is given to a community, organization or people who have made a lasting contribution to the whole of Lake Superior. In the past, the magazine has given the award to international organizations, cooperating groups, cities and an individual. In awarding it this year to the Mahans for their tremendous efforts, we make special note of the dedication to the vision that they held which pushed them beyond their initial goals. This was no mere publishing project. It was a passionate accomplishment. One we should all honor."