Walter J. Boyne, author of 40 books and former director of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, is the winner of the 2005 Lauren D. Lyman Award for excellence in aviation journalism.
Boyne is honored for an aviation writing career that spans more than 30 years after he retired from a career as an Air Force officer with 5,000 hours of flying time. His books include “The Wild Blue,” “The Smithsonian Book of Flight,” “The Leading Edge,” “Power Behind the Wheel,” and Airpower; an International Encyclopedia. He is one of the few people to have New York Times bestsellers in fiction (“The Wild Blue”) and non-fiction (“Weapons of Desert Storm”). Boyne also hosted and narrated video productions of two of his books, “Beyond the Wild Blue” and “Clash of Wings.” In addition to his writing, Boyne served as chairman of the Wingspan, the Air and Space Aviation Channel. He was named director of the Air and Space Museum in 1983 and founded Air and Space magazine.
The award is named after Lauren “Deac” Lyman, a Pulitzer-prize winning aviation reporter with the New York Times who later had a distinguished career as a public relations executive with United Aircraft, a predecessor to the United Technologies Corp. First awarded in 1972, the prize goes to a journalist or public relations professional in aviation who exhibits Lyman’s high standard of excellence. UTC is the long-time sponsor of the award.
Boyne received the award during AIA’s 41st Annual Year-End Review and Forecast luncheon Wednesday. AIA succeeds the Aviation/Space Writers Association, and later the Society of Aerospace Communicators, in stewardship of the award and presented it for the first time this year.
Founded in 1919, the Aerospace Industries Association represents the nation’s leading manufacturers and suppliers of civil, military, and business aircraft, helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles, space systems, aircraft engines, materiel, and related components, equipment services, and information technology.
