Jon Meacham wins Christopher Award for “And There Was Light”

Nashville, Tenn.-based author Jon Meacham has been honored with a Christopher Awards for his book, And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle, (Random House/Penguin Random House). It is one of 12 books for adults and young people as the Christopher Awards program marks its 74th year.

The book tells the story of Lincoln from his birth on the Kentucky frontier in 1809 to his leadership during the Civil War to his tragic assassination in 1865: his rise, his self-education, his loves, his bouts of depression, his political failures, his deepening faith, and his persistent conviction that slavery must end. In a nation shaped by the courage of the enslaved of the era and by the brave witness of Black Americans, Lincoln’s story illustrates the ways and means of politics in a democracy, the roots and durability of racism, and the capacity of conscience to shape events.

This new portrait gives readers a human Lincoln—an imperfect man whose moral antislavery commitment, essential to the story of justice in America, began as he grew up in an antislavery Baptist community; who insisted that slavery was a moral evil; and who sought, as he put it, to do right as God gave him to see the right.

Meacham is a Pulitzer Prize–winning biographer. In addition to “And There Was Light,” he is the author other New York Times bestsellers “Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power,” “American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House,” “Franklin and Winston: An intimate portrait of an epic friendship,” “Destiny and Power: The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush,” “The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels,” and “His Truth Is Marching On: John Lewis and the Power of Hope. He is a distinguished visiting professor at Vanderbilt University and a fellow of the Society of American Historians.

Christopher Awards were also given to creators of 10 TV/Cable shows and feature films.

The Awards celebrate authors, and illustrators as well as writers, producers, and directors whose work “affirms the highest values of the human spirit” and reflects the Christopher motto, “It’s better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.” Christopher Awards were also given to the creators of 10 TV/Cable shows and feature films.

Tony Rossi, The Christophers’ Director of Communications, said, “The stories we’re honoring acknowledge that the struggles we endure in life coexist with beauty and hope when we work together, despite our differences, to add love and healing to our world.”

The Christophers, a nonprofit founded in 1945 by Maryknoll Father James Keller, is rooted in the Judeo-Christian tradition of service to God and humanity. The ancient Chinese proverb—“It’s better to light one candle than to curse the darkness”— guides its publishing, radio, and awards programs. More information about The Christophers is available at www.christophers.org.