When it came to naming AIR MAIL’s inaugural literary prizes, we knew that we wanted them to honor a titan of literature, and that we wanted to award them to writers of both fiction and reportage, which demanded a namesake who was a virtuoso in both. Put that way, Wolfe was the natural choice. He was at the vanguard of New Journalism both in his groundbreaking magazine articles “The Me Decade” and “Radical Chic” and in books such as The Right Stuff. When he turned his hand to fiction, the results—such as The Bonfire of the Vanities and A Man in Full—were every bit as seismic.
It helps that the wryness, imagination, and flair Wolfe branded onto every handwritten page find a kindred spirit in Air Mail. Not to mention that Wolfe’s daughter, Alexandra, writes regularly for us, and that Air Mail founder Graydon Carter was a longtime friend. Wolfe was also a devotee of the Meisterstück fountain pen, a detail that sealed the deal with pen-maker Montblanc as the sponsor of the prizes.
