The San Diego Writers and Editors Guild observed our 40th anniversary on Saturday, September 14, at the Admiral Baker Clubhouse in San Diego.

The highlight of the event was the awarding of three Odin Awards to members of the San Diego literary community to recognize their body of work and their contributions to the wider San Diego community of writers. The awardees were Marc Chery, Charlotte Thompson, and Richard Lederer.

Richard Lederer, Charlotte Thompson, and Marc Chery, Odin Award recipients Judy Reeves

One of San Diego's writing legends and former Odin Award recipient, Judy Reeves, served as the master of ceremonies for the event. After providing a thoughtful presentation on the history of the Guild and the Odin Award, she highlighted the many remarkable achievements of each of the awardees in her introductory remarks.

Marc Chery modestly lists himself in his LinkedIn profile as Branch library management, community outreach, program planning, collection development, readers' advisory librarian at the San Diego Central Library. His impact on behalf of the San Diego writing community is much greater than that description implies. Marc is the man behind most of the presentations at the San Diego Central Library.

Marc was recognized as Black History Month Local Hero while he served as branch manager of the Malcolm X library, he has hosted panel discussions of local authors, and he plays a major role in the San Diego City Library's Local Author Showcase and in promoting the annual One Book, One San Diego selections.

Charlotte E. Thompson, M.D., is a board certified pediatrician. From 2005 to 2008, she was named each year as one of the nation's top pediatricians by the Consumer's Research Council of America. She is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at University of California Medical School in San Diego and the author of ten nonfiction books.

Dr. Richard Lederer is the author of more than 40 books about language, history, and humor, including his best-selling ANGUISHED ENGLISH series and his current books, AMERICAN TRIVIA, AMAZING WORDS, HILARIOUS HOLIDAY HUMOR, and THE BIG BOOK OF WORDPLAY CROSSWORDS. His works range from bloopers and puns to word origins and word games to pets and American history. He writes a weekly column for the San Diego Union Tribune, "Lederer on Language." He is the founding co-host of the syndicated program, "A Way With Words," presented each weekend on KPBS.