The cover of the November/December edition of Adirondack Life, with the cover photo taken by Pamela Underhill Karaz. (Provided photo)

JAY — Adirondack Life magazine won a total of 11 awards — three gold, four silver, three bronze and an award of merit– at the International Regional Media Association annual conference, presented Sept. 26 in Calgary, Alberta. The awards, judged by a panel of industry experts from outside IRMA, honored work from 2024.

Adirondack Life editor Annie Stoltie won two golds — in the profile category, for her vibrant portrait of a local reality star, “Melanie Sawyer’s Wild Life” (March/April), and for the recurring Column “Short Carries” (March/April, May/June, September/October), which the judges called “beautiful, poetic writing.”

“The Haus on the Hill” (May/June), a remembrance of classical percussionist Saul Goodman’s Lake Placid retreat by his grandson, New York Times-bestselling author Paul Greenberg, took gold for historic feature.

Former senior editor Lisa Bramen won silver in nature and the environment for “Oh, Give Me a Home” (September/October), a light-hearted look at an abandoned early-20th-century plan to introduce buffalo into New York state’s Forest Preserve.

The blackfly primer “A Bug’s Life” (May/June) “elevated some of the most annoying parts of the Adirondack region to hero status,” according to the judges, who awarded it silver for reader service.

Adirondack Homes & Camps — the magazine’s once-a-year celebration of everything Adirondack style, from lakeside estates to snug family cabins — took silver in the special focus category.

Artist Brian La Vallee won silver for illustration series with his colorful depictions of an army of frogs, band of coyotes, parliament of owls and other playful groupings in “The Name Game” (Guide to the Great Outdoors).

Steven Potter Jr. won bronze in the essay category with “Old Growth” (March/April), about his childhood days at his family’s generations-old Brandreth Park camp, while “Serenity with Man’s Best Friend” (March/April), Michael Morton’s portrait of his snow-speckled pup, took bronze for single photo as well as top prize in Adirondack Life’s 2024 photography contest.

With a range of striking images — from dairy farms to interior design — Carrie Marie Burr won bronze in the photographer of the year category, and art director Mark Mahorsky won an award of merit in art direction of a single story for “Making Camp” (Guide to the Great Outdoors).

IRMA has 20 member magazines from Arizona to Bermuda, Maine to the Yukon. It was established in the 1960s to help regional magazine publishers, editors and art and circulation directors share ideas. IRMA’s website isirmamagazines.com.

Adirondack Life is at www.adirondacklife.com. For more information contact Annie Stoltie at astoltie@adirondacklife.com.