And the winner(s) of our first Best Comment Contest are now officially revealed

A big shout-out to all of you who have written and continue to enliven this newsletter with your thoughts and observations

Jul 13, 2026

By J.C. Bruce

During my career as a newspaper editor, I had the opportunity on many occasions to judge writing contests, including the National Journalism Awards and the Pulitzer Prizes.

One of the lessons learned from those experiences was that once you got down to the finalists in any category, all the articles—or series of articles—were prize-worthy.

Not saying they were coin flips, but all were terrific examples of the craft, and making the final calls was always a challenge. It’s one of the reasons why in the Pulitzers, for instance, that being a “Finalist” is nearly as prestigious as the winner.

I shouldn’t have been surprised, then, that when I narrowed down the list of entries for last quarter’s Letters Contest that selecting the winner would be tough.

And that is reflected in the comments I received from readers whom I asked to help judge this. Every entry received at least one nomination. Most, many. Sometimes, nominees were selecting their competitors for the prize—which is very cool.

At one point, I threw my metaphorical hands in the air and said, “I give up. I can’t decide. Give everyone a prize.”

But that seemed to violate the rules I set out when I started this, and I imagined it would be a sure-fire way to upset everyone who might have imagined they’d been cheated out of the top honor.

So, here’s how I resolved this:

I am awarding the top letter writer, as planned. But, also, because I was just so impressed with all the entries, I am creating a new award category—Finalists.

As originally stated, the winner receives an official Miss Mingo coffee mug. But, as a bonus, the winner will also receive a Miss Mingo tee shirt.

All the Finalists also get a tee shirt.

I just had to find some way to recognize everyone’s outstanding efforts, which add so much to this newsletter.

As for the winner, I finally decided to let you decide, and I tabulated all the votes cast. There were no hanging chads. This election was not stolen.

So, without further ado (yes, I’ve buried the lede), the winner of the First Quarter of the 2026 Best Comment Award, by popular vote from all who offered their recommendations, goes to:

Nick Gallup, who wrote:

“I remember being embarrassed by having George W. as president. God, what I would give to have him back. I saw a map yesterday of the states that are actively trying to gerrymander their red states redder. Know what? It was a map of the 1861 Confederacy. It’s not conservatism. It’s racism. Ask a MAGA why he’s for Trump, and he will fumble round and say things like “Trump’s a businessman” or “Trump tells it like it is” but what he really means is “Trump is no longer giving our country away to people of color.”

Finalists are:

Tracy Duba

Richard Bellerose

MPT

George Terranova

Janet Robinson

Robert Kain

Charles G. Masi

Christine Howard

Bruce Nachman

David Fetzer

Tedder 130

Sharon Krueger

Congratulations to Nick and all our Finalists. Please keep writing. Your thoughts and observations make a huge contribution to this effort.

Now, to the details:

In order for me to deliver your awards (Certificate, Miss Mingo mug, and tee shirt to the winner; Certificate and tee shirts to the finalists), I will need from all the entrants:

Your snail mail address

Preferred email address

Your tee shirt size

You can send them directly to my personal email address here:

J. C. Bruce

Thanks for corresponding. Keep those comments coming.

And for everyone else, we’re in a new quarter, and this could be your big chance. Start writing!

Thanks for your support

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed if you are a rational person living in the “Free” State of Florida, but there are plenty of smart, reasonable people just like you here. The purpose of this newsletter and the Tropic Press website is to provide a source of news and commentary that shines a light through this irrational fog.

Thank you for your support as a subscriber. It is invaluable. This is especially so for those of you who have chosen to upgrade to paid subscriptions. Your contributions are making this possible.

J.C. Bruce

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