HANK!

From the Alabama Writer's Forum:

Pulitzer Prize Board awards special citation to Hank Williams

Hank Williams The Pulitzer Prize Board awarded a posthumous Special Citation to Alabama native and country music legend Hank Williams for his lifetime achievement as a musician, Columbia University announced on April 12. The citation praises Williams for "his craftsmanship as a songwriter who expressed universal feelings with poignant simplicity and played a pivotal role in transforming country music into a major musical and cultural force in American life." "Williams, who died in 1953 at age 29, was noted for writing and singing songs that reflected the hopes and struggles of everyday Americans, and his compositional skill and fusion of genres, experts say, became the measure by which country music is judged," said Columbia University in a press release announcing the citation. Williams is remembered for penning such standards as "Your Cheatin' Heart," "Cold Cold Heart," "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry," and "Jambalaya." Born near Georgiana, Williams later moved to Montgomery, where he began his career at radio station WSFA. He is buried in Oakwood Annex Cemetery in Montgomery. For the complete list of the 2010 Pulitzer Prize Award Winners, visit www.pulitzer.org.