Call it “the Kuntzman Slam.”
After piloting The Brooklyn Paper to the “Newspaper of the Year” honors from the Suburban Newspapers of America last year and winning the group’s “Editor of the Year” award this year, our own grizzled leader, Gersh Kuntzman, has won the same association’s “Best Column Writing” award.
It is the first time in history that the same person has walked off with all three awards in the same 12-month period — evoking the so-called “Tiger Slam,” when golf great Tiger Woods won all four majors in 2001–2.
Despite prior attempts to appear humble, Kuntzman decided that this was not time for humility.
“When we won ‘Newspaper of the year,’ that award was obviously an acknowledgement of a great group effort,” he said. “And the ‘Editor of the year’ award reflected how good all my employees make me look.
“But ‘Best Columnist Writing’? That’s all me, baby,” Kuntzman said.
Kuntzman’s “Brooklyn Angle” column has been a Paper mainstay since he joined the staff in 2006.
But last year, the column enjoyed its greatest year ever, with Kuntzman breaking big story after big story.
“No doubt you are referring to my world exclusive that there will be tetherball in Brooklyn Bridge Park,” Kuntzman said.
The column also reported on Kuntzman’s midlife crisis, on being snubbed at the Park Slope Food Co-op, on the need for an asterisk on Joey Chestnut’s hot dog-eating record (it was air-conditioner–aided!), on how he paid $11 for a piece of fruit, and on the stunning news that the New York Aquarium’s walrus was still masturbating.
No doubt, it was that final story that caught the judges’ eyes.
“Kuntzman’s columns are unconventional, yes, but have an undeniable flair and voice,” the judges wrote.
