Tales of South Jersey: Profiles and Personalities

"In a New Jersey that seems to believe that south of New Brunswick only dragons and bumpkins roam, Tom Wilk and Jim Waltzer's tales are refreshing, delightful, and corrective."-Richard Aregood, Newark Star-Ledger, winner of the 1985 Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing "Long before casinos and condominiums, there was something magical about Atlantic City: majestic beachfront hotels, zany amusement piers, the whole whirling transport of the once Queen of America's Resorts. Tales of South Jersey: Profiles and Personalities captures that vintage flavor. . . . The book offers historical pieces about the famous and the infamous, the legendary and the obscure. A work of nonfiction, Tales has the narrative flair of a collection of short stories, as it brings to life people, places and events that shaped Atlantic City and the wider region."-Springfield Press (PA); County Press (Newtown Square, PA); Hometown Press (Glen Mills, PA); Garnet Valley Press (Glen Mills, PA); Upper Darby and Drexel Hill Press; Media Press; Haverford Press There's much more to southern New Jersey than the Pine Barrens and the Jersey Devil, and this collection by journalists Jim Waltzer and Tom Wilk tells readers all about it. Oceanside and bayside towns offer a box seat from which to observe the region's rich history and the summery lore of the wonders of nature. Landlocked towns boast their own homespun and hell-raising traditions and idiosyncrasies. Waltzer and Wilk have compiled almost fifty stories about the state's southernmost counties. Although the focus is on Atlantic City and its remarkable people, outsize structures, and quirky events, the storytelling ranges across the wider region to provide an insider's look at history as it was being made. You'll encounter gangsters and gamblers, baseball hitters and hurricanes, famous piers and hotels, landmark theaters and eateries, splashy events and unheralded oddities--in sum, a cross-section of the region's character and characters. The authors divide their book into six sections: entertainment, famous and infamous events, innovations and innovators, leisure and recreation, room and board, and sports legends. Within each section are the rich and varied stories Waltzer and Wilk have collected for New Jerseyans' reading pleasure. Jim Waltzer is a journalist who has written for Atlantic City magazine, Delaware Today, the SandPaper, and New Jersey Monthly. Tom Wilk is a copy editor for the Courier-Post in Cherry Hill and coauthor, with Harry Armstrong, of New Jersey Firsts: The Famous, Infamous, and Quirky of the Garden State. He has also written for Atlantic City magazine and New Jersey Monthly, and is a contributing writer for No Depression magazine.