Ryan Gravel named Judy Turner Prize inaugural winner

Ryan Gravel, BeltLine creator and Judy Turner Prize winner.Lenz Inc.

The AJC Decatur Book Festival has announced that Ryan Gravel, creator of the Atlanta BeltLine and author of Where We Want to Live: Reclaiming Infrastructure for a New Generation of Cities, has been named first-ever winner of the Judy Turner Prize.

Gravel, a Georgia Tech graduate and the founding principal of consulting firm Sixpitch, will receive the prize at a ceremony on Sun., Sept. 4, before presenting his book — which uses the BeltLine as a model to argue the benefits of health-focused infrastructure — as part of the Decatur Book Festival.

The Judy Turner Prize, honoring the DBF’s longtime Board President, was established earlier this summer to recognize exceptional books at the DBF, published in that year and written about community.

AJC Decatur Book Festival. Free. Fri-Sun., September 2-4. Downtown Decatur, 101 E. Court Square. www.decaturbookfestival.com.