Peggy O’Mara’s op-ed, “Breast is best. Case Closed,” won a Maggie Award for best signed editorial. Peggy O’Mara is the editor-in-chief of Mothering magazine.
The award ceremony was Thursday night at the Sheraton Gateway in Los Angeles, California.
These awards are dedicated to celebrating excellence in publishing and media.
A lot of fabulous people were there: many magazine editors and publishing folks.
I accepted the Maggie on Mothering’s behalf. My speech was about 20 seconds long.
I think I said something like, “You don’t have to be a lactating woman to agree that breasts are a good thing!”
Then I shimmied back down the aisle, award in hand, luxuriating in the borrowed green dress I was wearing, the award I was holding, and my lactating breasts while the audience laughed uproariously.
Breast is best. Case closed.
My vaccine article was also up for a Maggie Award. That piece I wrote, “The Vaccine Debate,” has made waves far and wide. It was roundly criticized in a Harper’s magazine article and highly praised by Julian Whitaker, M.D., in this article:
Jennifer Margulis gives a perfect example of this in a cogent and well-documented article that appeared in a recent issue of Mothering magazine. She tells about an episode of ABC’s Private Practice in which a mother refused to have her younger two sons vaccinated because her eldest became autistic after being immunized. One of the sons gets the measles and dies, and the other is forcibly vaccinated. The story may have made for compelling television, but it was pure propaganda from drug companies, including Merck & Co., the pharmaceutical giant that manufactures the measles (MMR) vaccines. Go figure.
Don’t confuse TV with reality, folks. For generations, measles was a routine childhood illness with rare complications. In fact, a study published earlier this year shows that kids who’ve had the measles have a reduced risk of allergies, suggesting that exposure my actually enhance immune function.
It didn’t win. But I am honored nonetheless to have been a finalist.
Published: May 9, 2010
Last update: January 23, 2020
Alisa Bowman says
Congrats on the award as a whole. Sorry your article didn’t get it. It deserved it! And you looked fantastic. All that worrying for nothing right?
Sheryl says
Congratulations, Jennifer, on the nomination – although your article did not win the award, it was an honor to have been nominated, IMO.
You look every bit the proud and beautiful mama 🙂
Kristen says
Congrats Jennifer! I know you work hard to make your articles accurate, interesting, while still juggling your kids, laundry, and everything else that comes with writing and mothering.
Melanie Haiken says
Congrats to you and Mothering for tackling two very important topics; I’m sorry yours didn’t win but I agree with Sheryl that the nomination is a big honor in itself. And how fun to get to look so elegant and have travel time with baby!