A screenplay about the 1920 Duluth lynching of three black circus workers won a University of Wisconsin - Superior graduate the grand prize from 2010 Screenwriting Expo in California this month.

Dale Botten is a man who has worn many hats. The Lake Nebagamon resident and father of three retired from the National Guard after 19 years in 2004. Since then, he’s worked as a security guard and an independent author.

“No matter what you do for your day job; no matter what you do to put food on the table, to pay your car insurance, the writing is always in the back of your head. And you know some day when you get a chance; you’ll go back to it, maybe a little bit here, maybe a little bit there,” Botton said.

Botten graduated from UW-Superior in 1977 and has kept connections to the area ever since. A friend suggested he read Michael Fedo’s book “The Lynchings in Duluth” in 2003. Botten says he knew he could make a screenplay of it.

“1920 Duluth was not exactly a fertile place for civil rights movement and no place in 1920 was. There were many of the vets that returned from World War I, which was, just as in any war, a horrific experience and the economy was way down. People in Duluth were just on edge. And to have something like this happen when it did was probably the last ingredient needed for a perfect storm for this tragedy,” said Botten.

After many rewrites, Botten submitted his screenplay, “ALAMO-DULUTH: Anatomy of a Lynching” to the 2010 Screenwriting Expo in Califormia. When Botten found out this month, he won the grand prize and $20,000 cash; he could have been knocked over with a feather.

“I’ve been beating my head against the literary wall for probably forty years and I’ve come across some minor successes. But this, personally, you can’t imagine how satisfying it is for me to finally know that industry people have looked a piece of work of mine objectively and said ‘this is worthy of an award’,” Botten said.

Botten credits his family and the many people who have helped him along the way for his success. He plans to continue to pitch his script and submit to more contests.

“The worst thing a person can do after they’ve won an award is nothing.”