Buffman Receives National Mystery Award

Zev Buffman, president and CEO of the RiverPark Center, is being recognized for his efforts to revive mystery productions.

The Mystery Writers of America board of directors announced Wednesday that Buffman is the recipient of a 2010 Raven Award, which is "for outstanding achievement in the mystery field outside the realm of creative writing."

Buffman received the award three years after the launch of the International Mystery Writers Festival.

"For me, it is a wake-up call that the mystery festival works and it has been accepted by our peers in a big way," Buffman said Wednesday morning.

He will receive the award at the Edgar Awards Banquet on April 29 in New York City. The MWA's Edgar Awards honors the best in mystery books, television, motion pictures and plays.

Mystery Lovers Bookshop in Oakmont, Pa., is also receiving a Raven this year. Past Raven recipients include actors Angela Lansbury and Vincent Price and former Presidents Bill Clinton and Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Roosevelt received the award posthumously in 1959, which his widow, Eleanor, accepted. He, along with Clinton, received the Raven as readers of the year.

Lee Goldberg, an author, television writer, producer and member of the MWA board, nominated Buffman for the award. Goldberg attended the 2008 and 2009 mystery festivals.

"I think it's great that Zev is getting the acknowledgment he deserves," Goldberg said. "I'm hoping this will help him raise money for next year's festival."

Goldberg added that he hoped the award would help the state realize that the mystery festival is an "event of national importance in the mystery world."

Fundraising is ongoing for the 2010 mystery festival, which is scheduled for August.

Several well-known authors and performers have attended the past three mystery festivals, including Academy-Award winning actor Gene Hackman and best-selling authors Mary Higgins Clark and Sue Grafton.

Clark attended the 2008 festival where she was the recipient of that year's Angie Award for First Lady of Mystery. She said "no one deserves the honor more" than Buffman.

"Zev is a legend in the theater," Clark said.

Mystery festival shows are also now being produced in other venues. The four Agatha Christie radio plays presented at the festival in 2009 will make their West Coast premiere at Theatre Northwest in Tacoma, Wash., next spring.

Three plays from the 2007 mystery festival were selected as the only nominees for 2008 Edgar Award for Best Play. "Panic" won the award.

"At that moment, I can tell you the mystery world took notice," Goldberg said. "(Buffman) really got a lot of people to pay attention to this."

Buffman said recognition, such as the Raven Award, gives the mystery festival a seal of approval.
"Your product assumes tremendous credibility," he said.

([e.g.,Wilberding.Beth Owensboro, KY])

Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear welcomes the 2009 Live Radio Theatre Cast, Directors and Producers at RiverPark Center Wednesday, August 12th

Photo by Bryan Leazenby (bryan@onsiteimages.biz)

The 2009 festival performance winners include:

First Lady of Mystery – Sue Grafton
Best Play - Agatha Christie's Personal Call
Ira Levin Award – Lee Goldberg
Kinsey Millhone Award – David Breckman
Best Featured Actor - Phil Proctor for Mr Paravicini in Three Blind Mice
Best Featured Actress - Melinda Peterson as Mrs. Boyle in Three Blind Mice
Best Director – David Ossman
Best Actress - Amy Walker for Pam Brent in Personal Call
Best Actor - Gary Sandy as James Brent in Personal Call
Best Song - You’re the Thorn in my Side by Rupert Holmes
Hercule Poirot Award - Judith Walcutt
Commissioned as Kentucky Colonels -
Sue Grafton
Debra Babich
Jennifer Elder
Kelley Elder
Richard Fish
David Ossman
Melinda Peterson
Phil Proctor
Gary Sandy
Belinda Thomson
Judith Walcutt

Congratulations to all the 2009 IMWF Winners and performers! Stay tuned for future International Mystery Writers' Festival dates and details!

Attend one of the Globally Top Rated August Festivals!

Both the Global Traveler Magazine and the Southeast Tourism Society have named the International Mystery Writers' Festival in Owensboro, Kentucky as a Top August Festival! Don't miss it!

Agatha Christie Classics Headline 3RD Annual Festival. Aug 12-16, 2009

Live Radio Theatre Premiers 4 Christie Classics in the U.S.

The 2009 Festival will premiere four Agatha Christie classic mysteries. These four exclusive works are “Three Blind Mice,” “Yellow Iris,” “Butter in a Lordly Dish,” and “Personal Call.” Mathew Prichard, Agatha Christie’s grandson, says “I am delighted that Zev’s team is putting on my grandmother’s wonderful BBC plays which number among some of her best works. I am sure that the USA live audience will enjoy them enormously.” The shows will be presented as two double billed plays during the course of the festival......Read More

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Mystery lovers worldwide are celebrating the International Mystery Writers' Festival. The Festival presents unique opportunities to discover plays, screenplays, and short stories professionally performed, published, or produced for the first time.

Discovering New Mysteries celebrates the best of new mystery works through an annual competition offering more than $20,000 in prize money. Audience members cast ballots during the festival and select the winners for The Angie Award categories. "The Angies" are named for the legendary Angela Lansbury, Kentucky's First Lady of Mystery 2007.

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