The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Tertiary Phase won the Audiobook
of the Year Award, which was presented at the Audie Awards banquet on
Friday. Other finalists for the award included Harry Potter and the
Half-Blood Prince read by Jim Dale and The Truth (with Jokes) by Al
Franken. The surprise win may have been tempered by Entertainment
Weekly's spot-on handicapping of the event, but BBC Audiobooks
America/Audio Partners Publishing Co. recipients were visibly shocked:
executive producer Bruce Hyman quipped that he had thought the EW
prediction that his title would win was the kiss of death. Producer/director Dirk Maggs noted
that the production had been 27 years in the making and there was a
considerable time gap between the primary and secondary phase and the
current production. All but one of the original cast participated in
the Tertiary Phase, including the late Douglas Adams. Appropriately the
original Hitchhiker's Guide began life as radio drama--sparking printed
books, films and a TV series.
Perhaps the greatest surprise was judging chair Traci Cothran's announcement of a new award: an Audiobook Hall of Fame "to recognize a book, author, publisher, or other contributor to the audiobook industry of truly exceptional merit," which could include "an audiobook with long-lasting impact on the industry; it could be given to an author to recognize his or her commitment to audiobooks; it could be awarded to a publisher for efforts to preserve history in words." The award might not be given every year, and it might go to a title that has already won an Audie.
Cothran then bestowed the first Audiobook Hall of Fame award to the Harry Potter series published by Listening Library and narrated by Jim Dale. A stunned Timothy Ditlow recognized several contributors to the audiobook's success, including Random House's Jenny Frost, who encouraged Ditlow to press more than the usual 2,000 for the first title in the series. "And now we're here, five million copies later," he said. Ditlow also gave kudos to producer Orli Moskovitz who "slept in the studio" during the arduous productions and, of course, to the inimitable Jim Dale.
With three each, the winners of the most awards were Brilliance Audio, Recorded Books and Audio Renaissance .
Notable Awards
The Judges Award is given on a different subject each year; this year it focused on productions in Spanish. Arquimedes Rivera accepted the prize for FonoLibro's production of El Codigo Da Vinci.
Focus on the Family Radio Theatre's production of At the Back of the North Wind received the Achievement in Production award. In response, producer and first-time Audie attendee Dave Arnold exclaimed: "Maybe I'll come back next year!" before carrying off his second honor of the evening.
Nicolas Soames of Naxos AudioBooks accepted the award for Solo Narration-Male for Moby-Dick read by William Hootkins. Soames noted that two weeks after the close of production, Hootkins learned he had inoperable cancer. Within months he passed away, but not before hearing a rough cut of the work that is his swan song.
Listening Library was also honored for its production of Around the World in 80 Days read by Jim Dale. Ditlow noted that this award was especially meaningful since it was the 50th anniversary of Listening Library's first production: a recording of the Jules Verne classic produced by his father.
Perhaps many of the publishers could relate to the words of producer Yuri Rasovsky who received the Audio Drama award for The Sherlock Holmes Theatre: "Audio drama is the happiest way possible to penury."
Other Awards
--Ellen Myrick
Perhaps the greatest surprise was judging chair Traci Cothran's announcement of a new award: an Audiobook Hall of Fame "to recognize a book, author, publisher, or other contributor to the audiobook industry of truly exceptional merit," which could include "an audiobook with long-lasting impact on the industry; it could be given to an author to recognize his or her commitment to audiobooks; it could be awarded to a publisher for efforts to preserve history in words." The award might not be given every year, and it might go to a title that has already won an Audie.
Cothran then bestowed the first Audiobook Hall of Fame award to the Harry Potter series published by Listening Library and narrated by Jim Dale. A stunned Timothy Ditlow recognized several contributors to the audiobook's success, including Random House's Jenny Frost, who encouraged Ditlow to press more than the usual 2,000 for the first title in the series. "And now we're here, five million copies later," he said. Ditlow also gave kudos to producer Orli Moskovitz who "slept in the studio" during the arduous productions and, of course, to the inimitable Jim Dale.
With three each, the winners of the most awards were Brilliance Audio, Recorded Books and Audio Renaissance .
Notable Awards
The Judges Award is given on a different subject each year; this year it focused on productions in Spanish. Arquimedes Rivera accepted the prize for FonoLibro's production of El Codigo Da Vinci.
Focus on the Family Radio Theatre's production of At the Back of the North Wind received the Achievement in Production award. In response, producer and first-time Audie attendee Dave Arnold exclaimed: "Maybe I'll come back next year!" before carrying off his second honor of the evening.
Nicolas Soames of Naxos AudioBooks accepted the award for Solo Narration-Male for Moby-Dick read by William Hootkins. Soames noted that two weeks after the close of production, Hootkins learned he had inoperable cancer. Within months he passed away, but not before hearing a rough cut of the work that is his swan song.
Listening Library was also honored for its production of Around the World in 80 Days read by Jim Dale. Ditlow noted that this award was especially meaningful since it was the 50th anniversary of Listening Library's first production: a recording of the Jules Verne classic produced by his father.
Perhaps many of the publishers could relate to the words of producer Yuri Rasovsky who received the Audio Drama award for The Sherlock Holmes Theatre: "Audio drama is the happiest way possible to penury."
Other Awards
- Inspirational/Faith Based Fiction: Grace Will Lead Me Home by Katherine Valentine, narrated by John McDonough (Recorded Books)
- Personal Development/Motivational: The Five Love Languages by R. Gary Chapman, narrated by Dr. Gary Chapman (Oasis Audio)
- Inspirational/Spiritual: Finding God in Unexpected Places by Philip Yancey, narrated by Mel Foster (Brilliance)
--Ellen Myrick