Curious Cape Cod reporter Eric Williams wins 'Best of Gannett' first-place award
Eric Williams, of the Cape Cod Times, won a first-place award in a Gannett USA Today Network contest in the Digital Driver category with his reader-favorite feature, “Curious Cape Cod.”
The Best of Gannett 2021 contest winners were announced on April 21 during an online ceremony featuring contestants from Gannett newspapers across the United States.
There were 1,950 entries in the contest and 42 judges from outside the organization, according to Maribel Wadsworth, president/news and publisher of USA Today.
She said the Best of Gannett is a “celebration of exceptional and impactful work."
Williams is a long-time staffer who has been writing humorous but fact-filled, first-person columns about exploring everything from smallpox cemeteries in Truro to quaking bogs in Provincetown and soggy ruins in Sandwich for Curious Cape Cod for about two years now.
He ends his columns by asking readers what they want to know next.
“Curious Cape Cod is my chance to share my love of this place with readers and encourage them to get out there themselves and explore,” Williams said. “Sometimes, I just dare myself to do something.”
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Williams said he is surprised and gratified by readers who tell him they were inspired to follow in his footsteps on hikes at the Cape Cod National Seashore or shore walks along Cape Cod Bay.
“It speaks to the fact that people want to be challenged, they want to find out about stuff. It’s about the appetite people have for adventure," he said. "On Cape Cod, people are ready to roam.”
In addition, the Cape Cod Times had two finalists in the Best of Gannett contest.
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One was for breaking news, “Bomb Cyclone Hits Cape Cod,” to which journalists Gregory Bryant, Denise Coffey, Rachael Devaney, Doug Fraser, Jeannette Hinkle, Asad Jung and Cynthia McCormick contributed.
The October storm package featured photographs by Merrily Cassidy, Steve Heaslip and Ron Schloerb.
The other finalist was “We Were There” by Cynthia McCormick, in the local news category.