The Western Washington Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists has awarded Ballard writer, Peggy Sturdivant, the second place honor for excellence in journalism for a column in a weekly paper.

For over 20 years the SPJ has awarded writers of the region for great work in journalism. The annual gala was held last Saturday, June 13, at the Seattle Renaissance Hotel.

“It’s great and an honor, and with a various number of my students getting awards and prizes, I will finally have something to share with them,” said Sturdivant.

Unfortunately, Peggy was visiting family on the East Coast the night of the gala and could not attend.

“I wish I could be there because it’s a lonely business. … It would have been really nice to be in a room with fellow journalists for a night.”

Peggy has been writing for the Ballard News-Tribune for almost seven years, but started publishing work online for a blog associated with the Seattle PI back in 2007. Soon she thought that writing about her community in a Ballard newspaper would be more fulfilling. Today Peggy’s column appears every week in the Ballard News-Tribune.

“What I realize is I forget that I’m a writer, because when people ask me what I do I tell them how I facilitate classes and started Ballard Writers Collective, and do Seattle Green Space Coalition and all these things, but I’m actually plugging out a column every week. I don’t think of myself as a writer, which is kind of sad.”

Peggy quit her job 11 years ago after working for environmental consultants for 13 years. She also worked in education outreach for infectious disease research and as a technical writer. Since then she has devoted her time to community organizations, teaching and writing.

Some of the many organizations she is involved in are Seattle Green Spaces Coalition, It’s About Time Writer’s Reading Series, Ballard Writers Collective, Moving Words Clinics, Writing Classes at Horizon House and Project at Sunset Hill Writing Group.

Peggy was introduced to a passion for writing at an early age. Her mother kept a daily journal, and her father was a sports writer.

“I was just one of those tortured kids who had to write in their journal, and I locked myself in my bedroom through high school writing prophetic journal entries in attempts at poetry.”

Peggy went to Masconomet Regional High School in Boxford, Massachusetts. She said that it takes three small towns to make up enough students for the school. Peggy started taking writing seriously after she enrolled in a rhetoric class and was encouraged to write creatively. Later, in college, Peggy started writing short stories. The first story she sent out was runner up for Best American Short Stories. Her maiden name being Wass, Peggy was listed next to John Updike. The story appeared in Story Quarterly. But for Peggy, authoring short stories for publication was short lived.

“That pretty much scared the hell out of me, and I gave it up. … I guess I wasn’t ready to be sending my stories out. I just decided to do other things.”

Peggy studied English at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut and spent a year in France. She won two different writing awards while in school.

Today she says that she gathers her ideas from her daily life experiences.

“When I’m looking for a story I am trying to figure out something that the people I talk to don’t know. When people pitch stories to me they have a prepackaged version of it. Sometimes it takes a while because we will sit down and they think that we are talking about a certain thing. … It usually takes 35 to 40 minutes and then I start to hear the story that I think interests me. ... What I’m looking for in a story is what doesn’t get said.”

While talking to people about their lives, Peggy said that she does not use digital recorded notes. She uses a notepad and pen and writes down as much as she can from what they say.

“I take down the gist but every once in a while when they say something that’s a quote, I’ll recognize that’s something I want. “

After interviews Peggy said that she lets what people tell her hopper around and percolate. Usually the following day the ideas for a column emerge while she’s gardening or running errands and the first line, or what she calls the “entry point,“ is revealed. Sometimes it’s not the first line but the headline. Once started, Peggy follows a short form.

“I ‘m a short, short writer and 700 to 900 words is all I use because I’ve always loved that five-minute moment.”

Indeed, and in that five minute moment readers spent taking in Peggy’s column, they may not realize it, but they are being further connected to their community, Ballard.

“Every person has a unique story. So I feel that it’s my job — having grown up in a small town and reading a small town newspaper that connected everybody — to use my words to connect everyone. … I had a friend tell me once that I’m just not going to stop until I’ve connected everyone in Ballard, and I thought, ‘probably not.’”

One particular experience shaped Peggy’s appreciation and devotion to her craft. Peggy said that she took her daughter and her friends to Stone Gardens in Ballard where she met a very kind and personable young woman and instructor named, Emily Failla. Peggy said her daughter and friends had an amazing time thanks to Failla’s direction and encouragement. A few months later, over the Fourth of July weekend, Peggy read in the newspaper that Failla had fallen to her death in a tragic climbing accident.

“It really broke my heart, and so I went upstairs and wrote this piece about connection and what it felt like to read about her in the newspaper. … She was this beautiful young woman.”

The article called, “Fallen Star,” was published on the Seattle PI blog. Failla’s family and friends read the article soon after it was posted. More and more people read the piece and left comments on the site. The comments accrued, and the story web page became a forum for the family and friends to write about their loss. Peggy went to Failla’s memorial and the family referred to the story during the service. Later, her parents and boyfriend contacted Peggy to share their appreciation for the piece.

“That was truly life changing because that was the power of connection. All I ever want to do is connect people.”

Another story that Peggy wrote that stuck with her was called, “This House Was Loved,” which revealed how a couple lived in a home in Ballard for most of their lives and they sold it to a developer who said it would not be flipped. Despite what the new owner said, the home was later torn down. The story depicts a trend in development that many members of the community are disturbed by and captures the zeitgeist of Old Ballard facing unprecedented change.

“In writing I try to capture a person’s life — the essence of their life in short form — and to be able to do that is my art. It’s the most satisfying thing possible, and if they feel or their family feels that I capture their essence then it’s a good week.”

When Peggy doesn’t have a story from another person she writes about personal inspirations, especially about her daughter, Emily.

On behalf of the Ballard News-Tribune, congratulations, Peggy. Thank you for telling the Ballard story with your exceptional brevity, far reaching scope and immeasurable ability to connect a community.