The Society of American Travel Writers awarded Mr. Robert Norman Jenkins its highest honor, Marco Polo status, in 2006 for his volunteer efforts and 11 years serving in elective office.
SAINT PETERSBURG, FL, January 09, 2020 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Marquis Who's Who, the world's premier publisher of biographical profiles, is proud to present Robert Norman Jenkins with the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. An accomplished listee, Mr. Jenkins celebrates many years' experience in his professional network, and has been noted for achievements, leadership qualities, and the credentials and successes he has accrued in his field. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.
A celebrated journalist of more than 50 years, Mr. Jenkins worked at newspapers in Michigan, New York and Florida before leaving fulltime employment in 2008. After graduating from college, he accepted a role as a newspaper reporter at The Grand Rapids Press in 1965, a daily newspaper published in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Mr. Jenkins was soon after hired by Newsday in Long Island, New York, as both a newspaper reporter and copy editor, in 1967. Then, in 1969, he accepted a position as a newspaper reporter and editor for the Tampa Bay Times. Employed with the newspaper for 39 years, he worked for more than 18 years as a travel editor.
While working at the Times, Mr. Jenkins also served as the editor of its national news section during the Vietnam War and Watergate, as a state news editor, a city editor for its three home-county regional editions and, for nearly 19 years, as its first travel editor. Leaving the newspaper after accepting a buyout due to the state of the economy, he decided to begin freelancing. Contributing to the San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Toronto Star, Miami Herald and USA Today, among other reputable papers, Mr. Jenkins also wrote for Southbound and Dreamscapes magazines, Rand McNally, AAA magazines, CruiseCritic.com and other print publications. Furthermore, he updated three guidebooks to parts of Florida.
Mr. Jenkins' near two decades experience as a travel editor led to trips around the world, from Ireland with a group of 26 strangers to a private wine tasting with an owner of one of Spain's most notable wineries. His countless trips also included sites across Africa and Italy, as well in the U.S., where he experienced such places as the Arkansas White River, in a flat-bottomed boat, coastal Maine, aboard a windjammer and several trips to Alaska. As a result of his prolific wandering, Mr. Jenkins authored four books, scribing "End Bag: Travel Stories by Robert N. Jenkins," "Casting Off," "Knee Deep in Antarctica and Other Places," and "Truly, No Place Like Home."
An alumnus of Michigan State University, where he was later recognized as an honorary coach, Mr. Jenkins received a Bachelor of Arts in journalism in 1965. He has been a member of the Society of American Travel Writers since 1991. He chaired the society's 130-member editors council for three years, served as the national vice president for two years and chaired the 250-member Atlantic Caribbean Chapter and later the larger Eastern Chapter, which was comprised of all the states from Maine to Florida. Among other roles, Mr. Jenkins chaired the society's membership appeals committee, headed the group that created its Code of Conduct and served a year as parliamentarian to the board of directors. The society awarded him its highest honor, Marco Polo status, in 2006 for his volunteer efforts and 11 years serving in elective office.
In 1974, Mr. Jenkins received a First Place Award for News Section Design by the Florida Society Newspaper Editors. He was later named as the Travel Editor of the St. Petersburg Times in 1987. He also received eight First, Second or Third Place Awards in the Society of American Travel Writers Foundation Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Competitions. A celebrated Marquis listee, Mr. Jenkins has been showcased in close to 30 editions of Who's Who in America and Who's Who in the South and Southwest.
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