Knish Investigator Wins National Prize

Laura Silver has been awarded one of the top prizes for religion writing in the nation.

The New York-based writer earned Second Place in the 2011 RNA Religion Commentary of the Year. She received the award on Saturday night at the Religion Newswriters Association (RNA) Annual Conference in Durham, NC.

The award was open to opinion pieces created and distributed via any media format in 2010. Silver’s stories used food, culture and humor to highlight the Jewish experience in New York City.

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Silver praised RNA and fellow religion reporters for their enthusiasm, persistence and camaraderie. “The 2010 RNA Conference and its attendees encouraged me to ratchet up my game and submit articles for consideration,” said the woman who has been on the knish trail since 2002.

First prize for Religion Commentary went to Silver’s new crony, Kay Campbell, Faith and Values Editor of the Huntsville Times (Alabama).

Silver came home from the conference with a two-foot plaque and a piece of sports history.  At a conference banquet, the girl who didn’t make it to her high school’s hoops team won a basketball autographed by Naismith Hall of Fame member. Coach Cathy Rush is the subject of The Mighty Macs, an upcoming feature film about the down-and-out Catholic College woman’s team that she coached to victory in the 1970′s.

“I’m inspired by underdogs and women who persevere and break down barriers,” said Silver, a former scorekeeper for the Flushing High School boy’s basketball team. Today, the journalist sees her quest for knish history as a way to highlight forgotten stories and initiate interfaith dialogue between Polish Catholics and American Jews, who have passed the food back and forth for generations.