Sturdevant honored with MNSPJ Popovich award

Longtime Star Tribune journalist Lori Sturdevant has been selected to receive the Peter S. Popovich Award by the Minnesota Society of Professional Journalists. She will be presented with the award at the group’s June 4 awards banquet.

The Popovich award is named after Minnesota Supreme Court Judge Peter S. Popovich and goes to an individual or group who represent steadfast defense and support of First Amendment freedoms.

The award, MNSPJ’s most prestigious, honors the life of Popovich, a legislator, jurist, and tireless advocate for First Amendment rights.

Sturdevant recently retired from the Star Tribune and has been a reporter, editorial writer and columnist who has written about Minnesota government and politics since 1978. She is also the author or editor of 11 books about notable Minnesotans.

She’s an award-winning writer, speaker and author who has devoted her career to public service journalism. Sturdevant will continue to write occasional columns for the Star Tribune on politics and government.

Sturdevant is a native of Dell Rapids, S.D., and a graduate of Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She has been a member of Coe’s board of trustees for 30 years. Sturdevant lives in St. Paul with her husband. They have three grown children.

Popovich served in the state House of Representatives from 1953-1963. One of his legacies as a legislator is Minnesota’s Open Meeting Law. Throughout the rest of his career, Popovich remained an effective and aggressive advocate for openness in government and free speech issues.

The MNSPJ Awards banquet will be Tuesday, June 4 at the Town & Country Club (300 Mississippi River Blvd. N., St. Paul, Minn.) The reception begins at 5:30 p.m. with dinner served at 6:45 p.m. RSVP by 5 p.m. Tuesday, May 21. RSVP here.