The Providence Newspaper Guild last night sponsored its 34th annual Follies, a musical spoof of Rhode Island politics.

More than 1,200 people attended the show and dinner at the Venus de Milo in Swansea.

This year’s John F. Kiffney Award winner, named after an irreverent and much-loved reporter who died in 1987 of throat cancer, was Phil Edmonds, a well-known musician, environmentalist and peace activist.

Edmonds has never had a driver’s license and he rides a bicycle around Providence. He lives according to his principles, one of which is to keep the material part of life simple.

He has been arrested in peace protests, farmed a plot in a community vegetable garden, volunteered at the Amos House shelter, supplied secretarial services to a renowned Buddhist monk, helped run a free winter-coat exchange and spends part of each day with his mother, 87, who has Parkinson’s disease. He is also an accomplished musician.

Edmonds, 55, lives in Elmwood. He grew up in Ireland.