If ever a consummate journalist graced the ranks of AGLOW, the presence of Kevin Michalowski, the group’s 2016 recipient of the Excellence-In-Craft Award, deserves the honor. He has accomplished more in that storied field in his 50 years than most can even dream of grasping in a lifetime. His professional writing career started as a teenager, with work as a stringer for local newspapers. Following high school, he enlisted in the US
Kevin Michalowski is awarded the Golden Glow for Excellence in Craft. Photo by Nski.
Navy (serving five years) and attended it’s Defense Information School. Soon, he was gathering honors in writing, photojournalism, special events and establishment of a daily newspaper, radio and television stations, and a museum while serving aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt, a renowned aircraft carrier. Following, he became a sports reporter and created a weekly outdoor column for his hometown newspaper. Then, in August, 1993 he was named Outdoor Editor of the Aberdeen (SD) American News, and a month later joined AGLOW when the group convened in that fine city. He has been serving the organization with pride and compassion ever since, while expanding his horizons with esteem and dedication. In 1997 he became a book editor at Krause Publications in his home town of Iola, WI, spending eight years working on firearms and hunting titles, and later as senior editor of the firm’s popular Gun Digest the Magazine. During that time, he also continued work as a freelancer and authored four books. Meanwhile, he was firmly committed to AGLOW, serving stints on the board of directors, vice president and president in 2006, and earned a number of Excellence in Craft Awards and receiving the President’s Award for service four different times. He served as editor of Horizons, the group’s magazine, for six years, making it a most viable media publication. In 2012, Michalowski became executive editor of Concealed Carry Magazine and is in charge of all multi-media content for the United States Concealed Carry Association. More honors have followed. The magazine was recently named the nation’s best consumer publication for 2016 by the Niche Media Association, and the company’s video department, which he leads, won a Telly Award for Videography/Cinematography for its “Armed and Ready” series, featuring Michalowski and Dave Young. “AGLOW has been the cornerstone of my outdoor writing career”, Michalowski said when informed of the Excellence-In-Craft Award. “When I was just getting started, the association was there to help me. I will continue to do what I can to help AGLOW”.