Boling wins PNBA award

Local sports fans should love this: Former Spokesman-Review sportswriter Dave Boling ’s novel “Guernica” was one of five books given a 2009 Pacific Northwest Book Award .

The awards, handed out annually by independent booksellers from Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Montana and Idaho, are intended to honor the best books by regional authors published in 2008.

Boling, who is now a sports columnist for the Tacoma News Tribune, wrote his epic novel in hotel rooms, in airports and on airplanes while covering the Seattle Seahawks and other sports teams. “Guernica” tells the story of the Spanish Civil War , keying on the infamous 1937 bombing of the northern Republican stronghold.

According to the judges, Boling “has written the kind of rich, compelling and utterly unforgettable novel all too rarely attempted and even more rarely realized.”

Other winners are: “The Art of Racing in the Rain” by Seattle write Garth Stein; “Selected Poems 1970-2005” by Portland poet Floyd Skloot; “American Buffalo” by Alaska nonfiction writer Steven Rinella; “Wild Beauty: Photographs of the Columbia River Gorge 1867-1957” by Portland writer-editors John Laursen and Terry Toedtemeier.

Seattle-based Alexandra Day, creator of the popular “Good Dog, Carl” children’s-book series, earned a special lifetime achievement award.