I don't remember when I first met Geoff Carter, but I do recall when I first saw him. Late one night at the Enigma Cafe on Fourth Street. Musician Mark Huff was performing a solo acoustic thing to maybe a dozen people. At some point, he reached into the audience, pulled this hairy guy into the performance area, and they dueted on a rousing version of the Replacements' "Waitress in the Sky." It was Carter.
I thought about that night as I read "I, Zombie," his grand escapade through the Vegas of his mind (part one ran last week; part two concludes the tale this week). So much of what distinguishes Geoff as a writer is prefigured in that encounter. The setting, Enigma Cafe, a beloved blossom of Downtown cool; Huff, symbolic of the creative circle Geoff loves to celebrate in his writing; the genial good vibe of the evening, which suffuses his work; the faith in redemption by music, which you can read more about beginning on Page 16.
"I, Zombie" is a sad valentine to those things. The valentine part is obvious but the sadness equally important, Carter's heartbreak over lost Vegas adding a sharp bottom note to the high jinks he describes. Huff is gone, chasing greener pastures, as is Geoff (he lives in Seattle). Enigma is defunct. And the rest of us are totally funct if we let the real Las Vegas dribble away as the city becomes a marketing plan and a snappy slogan. That's a lot of what "I, Zombie" is about, and the rest is simply about the exuberance of imagination and the fun of reading.
Here's how the Weekly fared in the Nevada State Press Association awards:
Kate Silver: Firsts in Explanatory Journalism (for a story on mold) and Business Feature (worm-farming); second place in Feature Writing (a profile of political radical Chris Hansen).
Richard Abowitz and Kate Silver: First for Investigative or In-Depth Story (a feature on polygamy).
Damon Hodge: First in News Feature (a story on meth) and Sports Feature (profile of an ultimate fighter.)
Benjamen Purvis: Firsts in Overall Design and Page Design. (Also, illustrators Rick Sealock and Craig LaRotonda took first and second for Weekly images.)
Stacy J. Willis: Third and honorable mention in Feature (for pieces on shoplifting and telemarketing); third in Business Feature (a story on real estate).
Steve Bornfeld: Second in Entertainment Writing.
Joe Schoenmann: Second in News Feature (Downtown prostitution); third in Explanatory Journalism (a piece on electronic voting).
Sonja: Third in Best Non-Staff Column.