Giving genius its due

THE announcement of the annual MacArthur "genius" awards offers a ripe occasion to remember that creativity and hard work can pay off. Handsomely.

Two Seattleites, James Longley, a local filmmaker, and Heather McHugh, a poet, are in line for widespread congratulations and $500,000 unrestricted grants.

Both are this year's recipients of the nation's most prominent smart-person's prize, $500,000 grants from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and admission to a prestigious club of scientists, artists and public figures.

Longley, 37, makes films that tackle tough subjects through commonplace means. For example, ordinary families are used to explore the historical and cultural aspects of conflicts in the Middle East. He was nominated for a 2007 Oscar for "Iraq in Fragments," a documentary that examined Iraq after the American invasion as seen through the eyes of locals. A second Oscar nomination came last year for a documentary about an Iraqi woman and her 10-year-son who was dying of AIDS.

The poetry of McHugh, 61, stands out for its intricate weaving of puns and rhymes. She is the Milliman Distinguished Writer-in-Residence in the Creative Writing Program for the University of Washington's English Department.

Nominations for MacArthur awards come from a secret panel and deliberations are private. The under-the-radar process allows recipients to concentrate on good works, rather than impressing a committee. Recipients do not know they're being considered, underscoring how good deeds don't always go unnoticed.

Last year, a geomorphologist at the University of Washington's Department of Earth and Space Sciences who spends evenings playing with a rock band won a genius grant. The year before, two Seattle scientists — a biologist for the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and a University of Washington scientist in robotics and neurology — were among the fortunate few.

Seattle has long been known as an incubator for innovation and creativity. It is great to occasionally give the geniuses in our midst their due.