By Doug Hawk
Congratulations to long-time CAL member and past CAL President Bruce Most for being selected to receive CAL’s prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award.
Bruce joined Colorado Authors’ League in 1979, and his contributions to the organization cannot be over-looked or minimized. Beginning immediately after joining, Bruce spent many years serving on the CAL Board, holding positions as president, vice president, historian, and several terms as the CAL Awards chair. Back in the days when CAL held monthly luncheons, summer picnics and the annual Awards Banquet, Bruce was always present, always involved and always willing to do what needed to be done.
Bruce has had an enormous impact on CAL well beyond his active participation on the board and his long writing career. He is a friend to all. He interacts with other writers on an honest and open basis and is an unwavering voice for reason, unity and inclusion. Always available to offer advice and encouragement, Bruce is frequently the first to greet a new member, quick to introduce them to others in the organization and never disparages or belittles another writer’s efforts.
Bruce is one of those courageous writers who built his career as a freelancer without the benefit of a “day job”. Following his stint in the U.S. Army as a public information writer stationed in Alaska, he immediately began working as a freelance writer. A stranger to the corporate environment, Bruce spent his career working from his home office. He was editor of the Journal of Financial Planning, a publication of the Financial Planning Association. In that capacity, he wrote more than a thousand articles on a wide variety of topics within the arena of consumer financial planning. Subsequently, many of these pieces were included in The Encyclopedia of Financial Planning.
Additionally, during his career Bruce freelanced articles to national magazines including Parade, TV Guide, Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, Travel & Leisure and American Way. It was to the latter that he sold a profile of past CAL President and long-time member the late Clive Cussler. He also ghost wrote the self-help book, THE POWER OF CHOICE, an opportunity that arose from his connections as a CAL member.
In the 1990s, Bruce published two well-received mystery novels, BONDED FOR MURDER and MISSING BONDS, featuring tough-as-iron bail bonds-woman Ruby Dark. His 2015 mystery novel, ROPE BURN, received high praise as well as a CAL Award for best genre novel as did MURDER ON THE TRACK, his first Joe Stryker mystery novel set in post-World War II Denver. It was followed by a sequel, THE BIG DIVE. In addition to his novels, three of his nonfiction articles were recognized for CAL Awards.
Besides his CAL membership, Bruce is a long-time member of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Mystery Writers of America.
On his website, Bruce has a particularly insightful observation: “Writers without readers is like wine without alcohol.”
Bruce will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at CAL’s annual awards ceremony on June 19th.