Times Staffers Are Named Best of the West

Times staffers Mark Boster, who produced a photo series detailing the plight of Orange County’s homeless, and Mark Arax, who profiled title-winning high school cross-country runners drawn from farm-worker families, have won first-place awards in the Best of the West contest.

With a tape recorder and a camera, Times photographer Boster roamed Orange County talking to the homeless, documenting their lives and telling their stories with photos and interviews in their own words.

The stories, told from soup kitchens, shelters and under freeway bridges, were of hardship, bad luck, mental illness and financial ruin.

Three Times Orange County editors--Design Director Kirk Christ, Assistant Managing Editor Joan Springhetti and Director of Photography Colin Crawford--played key roles in creating a five-page section for Boster’s work that ran in November of 1997.

Arax won for best long-form feature writing for his story on cross-country runners, their coach and their quest to win a sixth straight championship.

“Once in a while, a story comes along that captures the heart and soul of its people,” the judges wrote. “Exhaustive research and elegant writing make this story a pleasure to read. It is told with such power and passion that readers will remember it long after track season ends.”