Purdue University Press Author Receives Gold Medal of Achievement

Purdue University Press author, Eric Grissell, received the 2021 Media Awards Gold Medal of Achievement in the category “Writing: Book (General Readership),” presented by GardenComm: Garden Communicators International.

This national award recognizes individuals and companies who achieve the highest levels of talent and professionalism in garden communications. The 2021 competition had more than 135 entries in 62 categories. Recipients of the Gold Medal of Achievement represent the top winners in each competition category including writing, photography, digital media, broadcast media, publishing and trade.

Grissell received the Gold Medal of Achievement for his book entitled A History of Zinnias: Flower for the Ages (Purdue University Press, 2020).

“The GardenComm Media Awards showcase the writers, photographers, editors, publishers and trade companies that have pursued excellence in gardening communication in print or electronic communications,” says Becky Heath, past president of GardenComm. “The Media Award winners have been judged by industry experts and show significant distinction and merits that exemplify exceptional work.”

Eric Grissell is an entomologist by profession and a gardener by avocation. His fieldwork and garden visits have taken him around the world. He has written five books on gardening, and numerous scientific papers dealing with the biology and systematics of parasitic and stinging wasps. Grissell is a member of the Entomological Society of America, the American Horticultural Society, the Royal Horticultural Society, and is a Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society.

Since the early 1980s, the GardenComm Media Awards program has recognized outstanding writing, photography, graphic design and illustration for books, newspaper stories, magazine articles and other works focused on gardening. In recent years, the program has expanded to include on-air talent, production and direction for radio, television, video, Internet and other electronic media.

To view all the 2021 GardenComm Media Award recipients, click here.

About GardenComm
GardenComm, formerly GWA: The Association for Garden Communicators, is an organization of professional communicators in the green industry including book authors, bloggers, staff editors, syndicated columnists, freelance writers, photographers, speakers, landscape designers, television and radio personalities, consultants, publishers, extension service agents and more. No other organization in the industry has as much contact with the buying public as GardenComm members. Learn more at www.gardencomm.org.

About Purdue University Press
Purdue University Press publishes significant books for specialized and general audiences, including regional titles, books about Purdue, and several key subject areas for which its parent university is famous, such as aeronautics and astronautics, technology, engineering education, veterinary medicine and animal studies, and other disciplines in the humanities and sciences. The Press is also a partner for Purdue University faculty, staff, centers and departments wishing to disseminate the results of their research. Learn more at www.press.purdue.edu.