Twenty-seven years ago this week, The Salt Lake Tribune published its first Utahn of the Year – Jazz legend Karl Malone. It was a seemingly easy choice given his MVP status in the NBA, but even the Mailman wasn’t without controversy.
I know something about this because I was the editor of The Tribune at the time. It was to be a Utah version of Time Magazine’s long-standing Person of the Year. Utahn of the Year was a little misunderstood at its launch and subsequent choices continued to perplex, miff or delight our audiences.
Today, we offer The Tribune’s 2024 Utahn of the Year for 2024.
As a current member of The Tribune Board of Directors and having helped give birth to this feature in 1997, I was asked to explain what Utahn of the Year is and what it isn’t. First know that the final decision each year rests with the seven-member Tribune editorial board on which I also serve a limited, rotating term.
In addition to the paper’s official choice, subscribers are prompted to make their selection from dozens of nominees. That is done independently of the editorial board’s choice, and the people’s preference also is publicized.
The Tribune began its annual official recognition in 1997 because we were aware that some individuals or entities affected Utah, positively or negatively, more than others, and that they ought to be recognized for that impact.
Technically, Utahn of the Year is not an honor. It’s a recognition, though many of the former recipients did honorable things to gain our notice. The selection seldom is without controversy and never unanimously embraced. If it ends up being an honor, it is coincidental to the core criteria — nominees must be Utah-based and have had a significant impact, directly or indirectly, on the state.
Three of the past designations weren’t even given to an individual human being. More than a dozen, including this year’s recipient, went to groups. In one case, we weren’t allowed to photograph the recipient. The choices over the past years have had all the trappings of the wild West.
And fittingly so.
James E. Shelledy was editor of The Salt Lake Tribune from 1991 to 2003. He has been a member of The Tribune Board of Directors since 2020.
