The Medals
Anecdotes on the medals and their meaning to recipients
The actual Medal is also important to winners.
In 1997, Robert Swindells’ home was burgled while he was abroad and his family wrote to the LA to see if they could replace the award before he returned. His brother wrote “All the usual things were stolen, hi-fi etc but these items are but nothing compared to the loss of his commemorative medal given by your organisation.”(CILIP CKG Archive) The LA was able to help out.
The same year Peter Dickinson’s family realised there might be a chance to replace his 2 Carnegie medals, which had been similarly lost earlier. They were later very pleased to present him with his new medals for his 70th birthday.
The Carnegie medal itself was modernised in recent years when the original Latin motto was translated into English. The illustration below shows the original inscription .
Double winners
Peter Dickinson was the first author to win the Carnegie medal twice, although others have followed. (Link to full list of winners)
Those wanting more detail on the history of the award and YLG and their relationship from 1936 to 1988 can refer to Keith Barkers “In the realms of Gold”.
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Updated: 06 May 2008