Dan Fagin '85 had forgotten this Monday was Pulitzer Day until his wife showed him the official awards site, which listed him as a winner.
"Dan, I think you won a Pulitzer!"
Fagin, a professor at the New York University Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute and former editor-in-chief of The Dartmouth, won the prize for general non-fiction for his book "Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation."
The book, published in March 2013, investigates a New Jersey town where decades of toxic chemical dumping led to high rates of childhood cancer and tells the story of its citizens.
The book uses the incident to look at man's longstanding quest to determine the environment's impact on our health, Fagin said. When he became a professor at NYU, he found the opportunity to examine both the macro and the micro of environment-related health issues.
"I knew I wanted to write a book to help people understand environmental epidemiology, which just means interpreting patterns over space and time," Fagin said.
Twice a Pulitzer finalist for his work as an environmental writer at Newsday, Fagin began working on "Toms River" in 2006 and conducted over 100 interviews.
He explores the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services's 1997 finding that Toms River, N.J., had significantly higher rates of childhood cancer than expected. This finding led to a lawsuit and settlement between impacted families and the massive chemical plants under scrutiny, followed by a cleanup of the 1,400 acre site.
Not everyone in the town immediately welcomed the prospect of a book, as many wanted to move on from what they viewed as a black mark in their town's memory, he said. As he spent more time in Toms River, citizens became more comfortable with the idea.
"They don't want to feel like what they went through was for nothing," Fagin said. "I think they see the book as a way of preserving their legacy so that other people can learn from it, including their own kids."
There are at least three effective ways to avoid incidents like that of Toms River, Fagin said, including ensuring independent scientific product testing, improving environmental and health data mining and increasing public action — which was the impetus for change in Toms River.
Fagin also warned against only blaming the chemical companies, which try to earn as much money as possible. Instead, he said, people should focus on changing the system when it leads to damage.
"Toms River is special because it is not only the story of a town but it is a narrative of gross negligence," said Ryan Doherty, Fagin's editor for "Toms River" at Random House.
Doherty said the book focuses on the individuals who uncovered the crimes of the corporations as well as the science both behind the cancer and attempts to prove culpability.
Reviews were overwhelmingly positive, as critics found that the book turned normally staid scientific concepts into a thriller.
Books like "Toms River," Doherty said, serve an important purpose because corporate chemical dumping continues to affect the environment. As long as people buy products produced by these companies, factories will continue to produce them, he said.
Fagin majored in government at the College, imagining himself as a future political journalist. Later, Fagin said, he found that political reporting was too focused on winners and losers instead of thoughtful writing.
Alison Frankel '85, Fagin's wife and a journalist for Reuters, said that even at Dartmouth, Fagin seemed to be a more sophisticated writer than many other students, recalling an introduction he had written for a special issue of The Dartmouth in 1984.
"Toms River" is Fagin's second book. He previously co-wrote "Toxic Deception: How the Chemical Industry Manipulates Science, Bends the Law and Endangers Your Health," which was originally published by Common Courage Press in 1997.
Fagin is a member of The Dartmouth's Board of Proprietors.
