The novel An Accidental Corpse (Dunemere Books), written by art historian Helen A. Harrison, Director of the Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center in East Hampton, has received the 2019 Benjamin Franklin Gold Award in the Fiction: Mystery & Suspense category.
The Benjamin Franklin Award program, one of the highest national honors for independent publishers for more than 30 years, is administered by the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) with help from more than 160 publishing professionals, including librarians, bookstore owners, reviewers, designers and editors.
“Sincere thanks to Elizabeth Doyle Carey and Carrie Doyle of Dunemere Books — both of whom are also award-winning authors — for their enthusiastic support, and to the IBPA awards jury for selecting my book for this honor,” said Harrison.
Harrison is an adjunct instructor in the Department of Art at Stony Brook, and an art columnist for The Sag Harbor Express. She served as curator for the Guild Hall Museum in East Hampton and for the Parrish Art Museum in Southampton, and was an art critic and feature writer on art for The New York Times Long Island section. In addition to the books, book chapters, journal articles, exhibition catalogs, and essays she has written, Harrison has also given many lectures, served on countless panels and committees, organized exhibitions, and made television appearances as an art expert.
The Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center, former home and studio of abstract expressionist painters Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner, is a National Historic Landmark and is administered by the Stony Brook Foundation.
Congratulations to Helen for a well-deserved honor!