Robert Laxalt Distinguished Writer Program
The Robert Laxalt Distinguished Writer Program was established in 2001 to inspire new generations of writers in honor of Nevada writer Robert Laxalt, who developed from news reporter to fiction and nonfiction author during his prolific career. Considered by many to be Nevada’s finest writer, Laxalt founded the University of Nevada Press and wrote 17 books, four of which were entered for the Pulitzer Prize. He also wrote for National Geographic and served as a professor at the University of Nevada, Reno’s Reynolds School of Journalism for 18 years, teaching magazine writing and literary journalism. Since 2010, Nevada Humanities has joined the Reynolds School of Journalism as a partner in producing this program, which takes place in Reno each fall.
2025 Awardee John L. Smith
John L. Smith is a longtime journalist and the author or co-author of more than 20 books. His titles for the University of Nevada Press include My Life in Politics: The Memoirs of Senator Richard H. Bryan; Saints, Sinners, and Sovereign Citizens: The Endless War over the West’s Public Lands; and The Westside Slugger: Joe Neal’s Lifelong Fight for Social Justice.
Smith has received numerous awards for his writing, including the Foley-Medill Medal for Courage in Journalism from Northwestern University, the Ancil Payne Award for Ethics from the University of Oregon, the National Society of Professional Journalists Ethics Award, and honors from Best of the West and Nevada Press Association. He is a member of the Nevada Press Association Hall of Fame and the recipient of the Silver Pen Award from the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame. He has appeared in numerous documentaries including The American Experience: Las Vegas — an Unconventional History and Nobody Speak: Trials of the Free Press.
Married to the writer Sally Denton, John L. Smith is the father of an adult daughter, Amelia, and the stepfather of three adult stepsons. He lives in Reno where he freelances widely and is working on his next book.
Past Robert Laxalt Distinguished Writers include:
Linda Villarosa, 2024
Jon Ralston, 2023
Beth Piatote, 2022
Frank X. Mullen, 2021
Jessica Bruder, 2019
Timothy Egan, 2018
Sally Denton, 2017
Richard Ford, 2016
Jess Walter, 2015
Sheri Fink, 2014
Jim Lynch, 2013
Mark Kurlansky, 2012
Rebecca Solnit, 2011
Stephen G. Bloom, 2010
Isabel Wilkerson, 2009
James D. Houston, 2008
Clay Jenkins, 2007
Lou Cannon, 2006
Alicia Parlette, 2005
Paige Williams, 2005
William Albert Allard, 2004