Who among us would be caught dead without her handbag?

To the handbag-obsessed, personal space is a moving experience. Which explains the centuries-old addiction to our purses. The handbag industry generates many tens of billions of dollars a year and, according to one survey, the average woman owns six—with an average price range of $40 to $65. At least that’s what we’re admitting to. Consumer goods guru Kellie Styring, interviewed on cnn.com recently, reported that 95 percent of women aged 18 to 64 carry a purse every day, with two or three favorites. That works out to 212 million “active” purses at any given time. As part of her study, Styring examined the contents of 100 purses and found that they housed an average of 67 items, ranging from the mundane (lipstick,  phones and gum wrappers) to the highly unusual (knives, marital aids). One purse produced a summons for prostitution.

Sigmund Freud also had a thing or two to say on the subject. In his Interpretation of Dreams, he associated the purse with a female’s most personal space, her womb. So typically Freudian…but certainly the handbag can offer a peek into a woman’s id, as well as her ego. It usually contains the keys (literally and figuratively) to her routine activities (cell, wallet, checkbook and credit cards), along with more intimate clues (lipstick, supplements, and even the occasional contraceptive). On a more serious note, sometimes items are included to ensure physical safety (a mini-flashlight, a can of pepper spray, or a street-wise personal protection alarm).

Photo credit: iStockphoto/Thinkstock

Statistics and psychoanalysis aside, for all of us, the real value of our purses as personal space lies in their portability. We literally can take them with us wherever we go. And they say so much about us, too. Spill out a handbag’s contents and the owner is revealed as a clutterbug or a neatnik, young or old, wealthy or not so well off. The type (not to mention the price tag) of a handbag generates more clues as to the personality of the carrier. Is it a clutch, a sac, a hobo, a tote or a satchel?Is it worn over the shoulder, carried by hand, or even slung cross-body? Is it an animal-lover’s favorite print or a collector’s vintage item? Does it reflect the season (fur in winter, straw in summer)? Is it leather or leatherette, color-blocked or quilted? Is it a designer item, a discount store purchase or a high-grade knockoff? Is it so small it could qualify as a wallet? Or so large it might incur extra baggage fees at an airport check-in? The EDGE editorial team decided to look for some answers…

Bag Ladies

Many of us would consider it a violation of privacy were someone to peek uninvited into our purses. With the promise of anonymity, however, five New Jersey women volunteered to reveal the handbag contents they won’t leave home without.

• “I always keep two Benadryl pills in my purse since I’m allergic to bees. Unfortunately, the Epi-pen that my doctor recommended I carry with me doesn’t fit in my purse, so I keep it in my glove compartment instead…shame on me. Maybe it’s time for a bigger purse.”
• “I use my purse as a medicine bag, a food pantry, a closet, and a library. I have to tote along an inhaler for my son because he has asthma and an Epi-pen for his nut allergy. If I am away from the house, I carry snacks—healthy and nut-free of course.  It’s like a repurposed diaper bag for older kids now, filled with hand sanitizers, tissues and wipes. Pre-kids, I was a wristlet/clutch carrier.  One day again maybe!  I love purses, but I hate carrying things. I only have boys, so it’s unlikely I can look forward to the day they have purses of their own.”
• “Not only would I never leave the house without my purse, I would never leave without my one-a-day Sudoku paperback puzzle book and a freshly sharpened #2 Mongol pencil safely tucked inside. I regularly use it to while away the time—not only at prolonged appointments, but I have even been known to whip it out when stopping for gas or standing in line at the supermarket. I think I may need a 12-step program.”
• “Stashed away and almost forgotten in whatever wallet happens to be inside my current purse is a slightly tattered St. Jude prayer card. Several years ago, while sitting in the waiting room of the hospital where my Dad was undergoing serious surgery, my concern must have been evident in my body language—so much so that an elderly lady sitting nearby came over and handed me this card. She explained that she believed St. Jude, the patron saint of desperate causes, had helped her through her own personal crisis. Without hesitation about parting with it, she said, ‘You look like you need this right now much more than I do.’ With heartfelt gratitude I thanked her and returned to my worrying. I was holding onto the prayer card when my Dad’s surgeon approached to tell me he had come through with flying colors. I thanked the doctor profusely and then sent some thanks St. Jude’s way as well. You never know.”

Unzipped

Though most people are timid when it comes to talking about contents, everyone has a handbag story to tell. A close friend had received a very personalized gift from her Tuscan father-in-law—a beautifully monogrammed shoulder bag of the palest butter-soft yellow suede—as a memento of her first visit. On a stopover in London, her husband suggested she save the Italian beauty for special occasions, but she couldn’t resist taking it with her as they ventured out in search of fish & chips. In an idyllic park-like setting, they settled upon a small food vendor who specialized in authentic newsprint funnels of crispy battered cod filets, jammed in with the quintessential twice-fried chips. Taking special care to avoid even the remotest possibility of an oily drip desecrating her handbag, my friend carefully removed it from her shoulder and placed it next to her on the park bench. Once the last of the chips had been devoured and all fingers properly licked and paper-napkined clean, she reached for her precious purse. As she reached for her handbag, she heard from above the cooing of a large pigeon with an apparent digestive issue. She glanced down just in time to see a very wet, very lethal stain spreading across the suede nap of her formerly flawless purse. There was nothing to be done. The stain resisted all attempts at removal. The bag was beyond redemption. She had lost her bag to the birds.

A lot of “lost bag” stories I’ve heard have more positive outcomes, including my own. I once forgot I had placed my purse on the roof of my car while loading it with groceries in the supermarket parking lot, and carelessly drove off. When I arrived home, I realized it was missing. I zoomed back to the market to check if anyone had turned it in to the Lost & Found. No luck. I surveyed the area around the original parking spot. No luck, either. Resigned to canceling all my credit cards, getting a new driver’s license, dealing with my lost cell phone, etc., I walked back to the car—and spotted it, still on the roof. I no longer feel ashamed of my heavy, overstuffed hobo bag. Dale Earnhardt Jr. couldn’t have moved that off the roof.

Star Gazing

Sometimes the bag itself is the story. Anna Gunn, star of TV’s Breaking Bad series, appeared on the Red Carpet at the January Screen Actors Guild Awards carrying the most perfect personalized accessory—given that she won a SAG award for her performance. What was the accessory? A sparkling, palm-sized clutch emblazoned with the show’s Br/Ba logo. No other fashion statement, carried or worn that evening, rivaled it.

Awards season also thrust Cate Blanchett’s Birkin bag into the spotlight. It took on a life of its own in the film Blue Jasmine, for which Blanchett won a Best Actress Oscar. Woody Allen is known for his shoestring budgets, and in this case the bag’s price tag was equal to the cost of the rest of the film’s wardrobe. Blanchett drove costume designer Suzy Benzinger crazy by flinging her Birkin all over the set. “She was having conniptions,” Blanchett reported.

Other celebrities recently caught toting pricey designer handbags include…

Nicky Hilton

Balenciaga Magenta City Bag ($1250-$1345)

Victoria Beckham and Khloe & Kim Kardashian Hermes Birkin Bag

(customizable between $7400 and $150,000 by waiting list only)

HRH Kate Middleton

LK Bennett clutch

(a relatively plebian $475)

Taylor Swift

Ralph Lauren Calfskin Ricky Lock Crossbody Bag ($1950)

Miley Cyrus

Edie Parker Jean evening bag ($1295)

Jessica Alba

Prada Madras Top Handle Flap Tote ($2650)

Sarah Jessica Parker

Balenciaga First Bag ($1395)

Rihanna and Jennifer Lopez

Gucci USA Flag Boston Bag ($895, designed in support of UNICEF)

THE CAT’S IN THE BAG

A close friend has found a solution to the long lines at security checkpoints. Atypically, she has an aversion to just about all handbags and carries one only when absolutely necessary. At a recent theater evening, she opted to bring along her favorite—a delightful purse of the smallest possible proportions flaunting the cutest bejeweled feline face. As her turn approached for the inevitable security check, she began to remove the purse from her wrist in order to present it for inspection. Before she could do so, the screener laughingly told her not to bother, since he was sure that her adorable mini-bag could in no way ever conceal anything that could possibly pose a security threat. Without further ado, he waved her on into the lobby. The cat in the bag had worked its charm once again.

Making History

The origin of the saying about making “a silk purse out of a sow’s ear” is attributed to 18th century author Jonathan Swift. Even without easy access to a sow’s ear these days, handbags still are among the most popular of personal spaces, at least for women. Yet, handbags actually date back more than 5,000 years. The original purpose of a purse was to carry around one’s personal net worth—often in the form of coins, making ancient purses the accessory of choice of men not women. The Bible refers to Judas as having worn a purse.

Many centuries later, European men turned to leather pockets in their trousers (called “bagges” in the 16th century) and later on to small wallets in their pockets, where they stashed their cash.

European women began to devote their domestic skills to producing a fashionable feminine accessory known as the reticule, a delicate silk or velvet pouch with drawstrings and wrist straps to facilitate hand-carrying. By the end of the 17th century, the handbag had become—and remains to this day—an almost exclusive feminine accessory, the oft-maligned fanny packs and “man bags” notwithstanding.

Putting style, size and seasonality aside, a handbag represents a composite of its owner’s life, her taste and the times. Unlike the royals, who technically don’t need to carry anything for themselves, we commoners are on an obsessive quest to find the perfect container for our everyday belongings. Whether it’s called a handbag or a purse or a pocketbook (or a bolsa, borsa or sac a main for that matter), this predominantly feminine accessory has gone on many a personal journey…some anecdotal, others indelible, and still others preferably forgotten. Even when it has outlived its usefulness or its appeal—when its original newness has faded to a timeworn shabbiness—an old handbag can still hold a pocketful of memories.

Score One for Sports… Literally

By Steve Urena

Offer kids an opportunity to attend a writing camp, and you’re likely to be greeted with blank stares. Offer those same kids a chance to write about sports and it’s a whole new ballgame. That’s the concept behind Write On Sports, the brainchild of veteran sportswriter and editor Byron Yake, who opened the afterschool program and summer camp in 2005. Since then, hundreds of aspiring scribes have pursued their passion, while honing skills that will serve them for a lifetime.

Yake, who worked for the Associated Press for two decades, wanted to give back to the journalism community by passing down his knowledge to the next generation of sports journalists. The Write On Sports director designed his program so that children could strengthen their communication and literacy skills by using sportswriting as a learning tool. The high-interest subject matter keeps them motivated, as does the 4:1 student-to-instructor ratio.

Write On Sports has focused primarily on middle- schoolers in order to prepare them for high school and beyond. One of its success stories, Kevin Lopez, parlayed his success in the program to become class valedictorian at Newark Technology High School for 2012, and now attends Princeton University. Lopez credits his own personal successes to being a three-time participant in the Write On Sports program.

“Write on Sports helped me, overall, in school,” he says. “My self-expression skills have improved and a blank piece of paper is no longer a fear. Before, I used to think writing was something they made us do. Now it’s something I like to do.”

Among the high points of the program are the visits from working sportswriters, including writers from The Daily Record, The Star-Ledger, Sports Illustrated, ESPN The Magazine and several TV and radio stations. During Super Bowl week this year, NFL writer Peter King took four young writers out to lunch to talk shop. Another popular feature of Write On Sports is attending and writing about live games, as well as interviews with players and coaches. The curriculum has expanded to touch on sports blogging and also video journalism, with the kids getting to work with microphones and video editing equipment.

“Seeing children who are not very confident about their writing transform at the end of the program with a new sense of confidence is the most rewarding part of this job,” explains lead instructor Andy Beutel. “This is their summer vacation. They are choosing to do this and are enjoying themselves when writing. I don’t think schools give children the opportunity to do that very often, so Write On Sports definitely gives kids that chance to have fun while learning.”

Editor’s Note: Steve Urena began writing about a wide range of sports as a teenager, and is currently working for World Wrestling Entertainment. For more information about Write On Sports camps and after-school programs, log onto writeonsports.com. At right, former Tampa Bay Bucs linebacker Al Singleton shows off his Super Bowl ring during a visit with an aspiring sportswriter.

News, views and insights on maintaining a healthy edge.

In the Blink of an Eye

High-powered blue handheld lasers—which some parents purchased for their children this past holiday season—are anything but toys. So powerful is the light from these devices that the normal blink reflex isn’t quick enough to prevent damage when they hit the human eye. Blue laser pointers resemble lower-wattage red and green laser pointers, but can cause much more severe retinal damage in just a fraction of a second—including hemorrhaging in multiple retinal layers, macular pucker and a retinal cavity. Ouch! A recent study in Ophthalmology stated that the lack of public knowledge about blue handheld lasers could lead to an “epidemic of ocular injuries” and called for government intervention.

Eating Away the Blues

While newspapers and magazines are full of stories about “holiday blues,” you don’t hear much about the sadness and mild depression that can kick in after the wind-down of endless parties and presents. In many cases, the problem is related to extra pounds we pack on in December and January. The good news is that healthy eating in February and March can not only help you shed that weight, it can also improve your mental well-being. For example, study after study has shown that adding foods rich in Omega-3 fatty acids can be effective in staving off depression. These foods include salmon and tuna, dark leafy vegetables, nuts and flaxseed. Fish (along with low-fat dairy foods) can also boost your mood by boosting your B12 levels. There is also growing evidence that a diet high in selenium can improve mild depression. Fish, nuts, lean meats, beans and whole grains are rich in selenium. Some other rules for avoiding diet-related moods swings include eating a healthy breakfast every day, drinking plenty of water and consuming a healthy snack or small meal every four hours or so for sustained energy.

16 Going on 17

How much exercise is too much exercise? For teenagers, this question almost seems superfluous. Study after study shows that kids simply aren’t active enough. According to sports medicine authority Dr. Michele Gilsenan, by mid-teens, when participation should be high, the opposite occurs and sedentary living becomes the norm for many teenagers. As reported in the Archives of Disease in Childhood, seven hours a week is the recommended “dosage” of sports for most teens; for kids on teams, an average 14 hours delivers the maximum benefit in terms of fitness and proficiency in a sport. However, 17 hours is the tipping point at which strenuous activity becomes detrimental for athletic teenagers. Once that 17 hour maximum is reached, the benefits of sports participation, including improved self-esteem and mental acuity and the reduced risk of depression, appear to diminish. In fact, researchers from the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine in Switzerland found the risk of depression, irritability and anxiety actually starts to increase. “As young athletes frequently choose a single sport that they play year-round, overuse of the same muscles occurs,”

Michele Gilsenan, DO
Member, Family Medicine Department 732.388.7300

Dr.Gilsenan observes. “In general, early burnout from the sport or physical activity occurs. As a result, we’re seeing a type of injury in younger athletes that was once reserved for those older. Also, with too much sports activity, there is the possibility of reduced concentration, which can lead to potential injuries, too.”

Nuts to You

A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine this winter reached the startling conclusion that people who eat a handful of nuts every day have a lower mortality rate by 20 percent compared to those who do not eat nuts at all. That statistic covers death from all causes, but the study pointed specifically to significant differences in death due to heart diseases, cancer and respiratory illnesses. This news is exciting because it involves a relatively simple, un-dramatic lifestyle change. “Nuts contain unsaturated fatty acids, the good fatty acids. They help lower bad cholesterol, the low density lipoprotein (LDL), which is linked to the hardening of coronary arteries that can lead to heart attacks,” asserts

Fayez Shamoon, MD Director, Cardiovascular Services 973.877.5160

Fayez Shamoon, MD, Director of Cardiovascular Services at Trinitas. “Nuts, especially walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, and peanuts, as recently shown, are also rich in fiber and are an extremely beneficial part of a heart-healthy diet as suggested in a July 2003 Food and Drug Administration (FDA) statement.” The New England Journal reporting further found that nut-eaters were more likely to consume fruits and vegetables, be non-smokers, and get a decent amount of exercise. These links may have something to do with the fact that nuts quell hunger pangs between meals compared to less nutritious snack foods. In a nutshell, Dr. Shamoon adds that eating one to two ounces of nuts daily is highly recommended.

Vacation Souvenir

The growing popularity of “nip-and-tuck tourism”—the blending of a tropical vacation with lower-cost cosmetic surgery procedures—is not without risk. In Boston this past fall, hospitals reported several cases of Mycobacterium abscessus infection, involving bacteria that are particularly stubborn when it comes to antibiotics. When doctors looked for a common vector, they found that the patients had undergone cosmetic surgery while vacationing in the Dominican Republic over the summer. Soon, they found that hospitals in New York, Connecticut and other states were reporting similar cases. Mycobacterium abscessus is spread by contaminated medical equipment and supplies, and bad surgical technique, but doesn’t show up until many weeks later. Fortunately, the infection is not contagious. A word to the wise from Board Certified plastic surgeon

Joseph D. Alkon, MD Chief, Plastic Surgery 908.583.5630

Joseph D. Alkon, Chief of Plastic Surgery at Trinitas: “When considering aesthetic plastic surgery, or any type of plastic surgery for that matter, it is important to seek out a board-certified plastic surgeon who is trained and experienced in your desired procedure. Verify the training and credentials of the physician who will be performing your surgery and the certification of the facility where your surgery will be performed. An excellent resource for this is the American Board of Plastic Surgery’s website, www.abplsurg.org. If your physician is not listed here, yet claims to be ‘board-certified,’ then that should serve as a warning and prompt you to ask specific questions about their credentials and training, and their ability to perform your plastic surgery safely.”

Autism Breakthrough at Yale

Research published in late 2013 by the Yale Child Study Center shows promise for oxytocin (OT)—aka the “love hormone”—in the treatment of autism. Areas of the brain governing social functions such as empathy and reward had greater activity after subjects were given an inhaler spray of oxytocin. The effects were temporary and the number of subjects (17) in the study small, but the really encouraging news may be that the brain regions involved in autism may not be irrevocably damaged. Another interesting finding in the Yale study was that children whose saliva had higher levels of oxytocin exhibited more activity in the amygdala, the part of the brain that plays an important role in the processing of emotions. “This encouraging study at Yale challenges what we know about treatment being effective in children only when given by three years of age,” asserts

Romulo Aromin, Jr., MD
Medical Director, Child/Adolescent Partial Hospital Programs 908.994.7028

Romulo Aromin, Jr., MD, Medical Director of Child/Adolescent Partial Hospital Programs at Trinitas.  “Children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders may still be responsive to medication and may still be malleable more than what we thought. Currently, Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) has been the evidence-based treatment recommended during this window period. Without such treatment, prognosis will be adversely affected. This study opens utilizing occupational therapy and Applied Behavioral Analysis as intervention arms.”

After five-plus years at Trinitas, the da Vinci Robotic System continues to surprise and impress

By Erik Slagle

If there’s a certain level of art that goes along with the science of surgery, the wave of advances taking place in robotics-assisted procedures could be considered its Minimalist movement. Less cutting. Less blood loss. Less pain. Less recovery time.

Less is usually more when it comes to surgery, and the procedures made possible by innovations such as the Single-Site da Vinci System are bringing surgeons and their patients to the cutting edge—which in many cases means a lot less cutting than in years past. Nowhere around New Jersey is that more evident than at Trinitas, where robotic equipment has transformed the concept of surgery in fields such as gynecology, colon and rectal, and gallbladder removal. The surgeons carrying out these operations often turn to robotics for maneuverability and visibility—consistently leading to more positive outcomes and faster recoveries for their patients.

“The ability to carry out robotic surgeries at Trinitas enables us to be more aggressive in how we treat, while giving us almost unlimited access within the surgical field,” says

Labib E. Riachi, MD, FACOG Chairman, OB/GYN
Director, Robotics 908.282.2000

Dr. Labib Riachi, Chairman of Trinitas’ OB/GYN Department and Director of Robotics. Dr. Riachi has carried out more than 700 procedures since 2009 on the da Vinci System. While at a console, a surgeon can manipulate the “arms” that maneuver a camera and carry out cutting, holding and coagulating all through a single or multi-port precise abdominal incision. Dr. Riachi has used the system to perform corrective surgeries for conditions such as prolapse, fibroids, bleeding, lysis of adhesions and endometriosis, and now trains other surgeons to do the same.

The benefits are easy to see—literally. “This technique provides us with ten times the magnification that we’d have with conventional open and laparoscopic surgeries,” Dr. Riachi says. “When treating endometriosis, for example, we have unparalleled precision in identifying, lifting and excising the lesions. At the consoles, we can manipulate surgical equipment with 360-degree rotation—superior even to laparoscopy. We can hold, dissect, and clean at better angles, and bring in a second surgeon if necessary without having to scrub out—that doctor can sit down at the adjacent console and see exactly what we’re seeing.”

A recent patient of Dr. Riachi’s, only in her 30s, had consulted with nearly a dozen doctors over a 15-year period to treat endometriosis that threatened to claim her ovaries. Still hoping for the opportunity to one day become pregnant, the young woman was desperate to avoid losing her reproductive organs, but appeared to be running out of options. Through the da Vinci method, however, Dr. Riachi was able to clean and correct all of her adhesions and excise all the endometriotic lesions in a single surgery, saving her entire reproductive system in the process.

“For 15 years, this patient had lived with chronic pelvic pain,” Dr. Riachi says. “But thanks to robotics, in cases like hers we no longer have to take out an ovary. We can clean and clear the reproductive system instead. At a follow-up appointment, she said she hadn’t felt this good in years.”

Preserving organs and saving body functions are primary goals of systems such as the da Vinci. Even in cases where Single-Site isn’t an option, surgeons are finding that introducing other types of robotics into the process can yield great results.

Andrea S. Zimmern, MD, FACS Colorectal Surgeon 908.994.8449

For Dr. Andrea Zimmern, colon and rectal surgeries can be carried out using a combination of laparoscopy or open surgery along with a robotic “helping hand” to gain the most favorable outcomes. In Dr. Zimmern’s field, robotic precision can help surgeons carry out procedures that might otherwise prove impossible.

“The visualization [using robotic equipment] is far beyond anything we’ve had previously,” Dr. Zimmern says. “With robotics, we can perform surgeries that used to be impossible even via laparoscopy. We recently treated a patient who came to us with an abdominal tumor that took up his entire pelvis. The patient was also suffering from obesity, which made his case especially complicated. Even with laparoscopy, we wouldn’t have been able to remove the cancer without giving the patient a permanent colostomy. But the precision of our robotic equipment allowed us to do just that. So we’re learning there are particular instances and cases where the ability to carry out robotics-assisted surgery isn’t just advantageous—it’s really the ideal.”

The use of robotics in surgery is quickly becoming common across a range of fields including cardiology, endocrinology, and general surgery. Robots are now key players in helping surgeons tackle aggressive cancers of the bladder, uterus, prostate, throat and more. With skilled, talented, trained surgeons at the controls, the robots at work in the operating theaters at Trinitas are driving modern medicine into a future that used to exist only in the realm of science fiction. Like its namesake, the da Vinci System is redefining an art form: the art of complex, life-changing and life-savings surgeries.

Rodolfo Colaco, MD, FACS, FICS Chairman, Surgery
908.353.4177

Pioneering surgeon Rodolfo Colaco, MD, underwent specialized training and performed the region’s first robotic single site procedure at Trinitas in 2013. The patient’s gallbladder was removed through one tiny incision in the belly button, making the procedure virtually scarless.

SOAR! addresses the retirement needs of the ‘religious elderly’

By Diane Alter

In the secular world, we don’t think much about the retirement needs of Catholic priests, sisters and brothers. Yet, as exceptional and unwavering as they are in their devotion to others, they are just as susceptible to the challenges of aging as we are. Perhaps more so, in fact.

Many turn to Support Our Aging Religious (aka SOAR!). Based in Washington, D.C., SOAR! is a non-profit, grant-generating organization that connects people of all religious denominations, all across the country, whose lives have been touched by unrivaled contributions from the professional Catholic community. Its aim is to raise funds, educate the public about serious retirement needs of the “elderly religious” and develop a national network of those who want to help.

“We support priests, sisters and brothers of religious orders,” says Sister Kathleen Lunsmann, President of SOAR!. “While we don’t support diocesan priests, we do support Franciscans, Dominicans, Benedictines, etc. However, it’s primarily sisters who are most in need of our help.”

Born and raised in New Jersey, Sister Kathleen is a former member of New Providence’s Our Lady of Peace Parish, where she remained until entering The Congregation of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Scranton, Pennsylvania. However, with siblings and their families still in the Garden State, Sister Kathleen frequently comes back across the Delaware. A recent visit included a stop at the Conventual Franciscan Friars in Seaside Park to bring them a grant check for $25,000. The money will be used to replace windows in the home of retired Franciscan priests.

“In my position at SOAR!, I am honored to raise money to help elderly sisters and brothers,” she says. “These dear religious men and women have given their lives in service to others and now it’s time for us to give back and care for them. For most of their working years, sisters who are now retired received little compensation for their work in schools, hospitals and parishes. Today, it’s different. Congregations are compensated for the work of the sisters. But retired sisters need to rely on benefactors like their former students to help them in their aging years.”

The sisters are not asking for much, explains Sister Kathleen. For example, they might need funds for a bathroom renovation to accommodate a wheelchair. Or there might be a need for money for a stair lift so sisters can access a floor on their own.

For more information on SOAR! log onto soar-usa.org.

Five of the Costliest Legal Mistakes You Can Make

A recent poll revealed something we all secretly knew. More than half of the people who make a list of New Year’s resolutions fail miserably when it comes to following through… and nearly one in five blows it within the first 24 hours. 

There are some lists, however, that you would be wise to tuck away. As lawyers, we are often asked about the kinds of legal mistakes people commonly make that are either costly to resolve, or impossible to undo. Many, if not most, of these mistakes involve being “penny wise and pound foolish.” Then again, diplomacy aside, some of these mistakes are just plain stupid. And yet we see them made again and again.

Photo credit: iStockphoto/Thinkstock

If you must make a list of resolutions for 2014, try this list of the Top 5 legal blunders to avoid. Although they may not sound as exciting as dropping 20 pounds, or getting around to organizing your basement, we promise that your year will turn out all the better for being safe rather than sorry.

Hitting the “Reply All” (and Send) Button When You Don’t Mean To

We’ve all done it. We receive an email that has been cc’d to a group of other recipients who may be friends, (or not), or co-workers (or not), or—in a business situation—on “our side” (or not). Often we are tempted to make a snarky comment to one of the other recipients, but instead mistakenly hit the “Reply All” button. Oh no! Well, you can’t take it back. Usually this is just embarrassing, but in the context of a business transaction or litigation, it can be devastating, especially if the “Reply All” reveals confidential information, such as strategy or facts unknown to the unintended recipient(s). Imagine you are selling a company and you receive an email from one of the bidders. Your “Reply All” message, intended for only one of your partners, says, “I hope the dope doesn’t know he’s bid twice what anyone else has.” Enough said. Bid withdrawn!

Photo credit: iStockphoto/Thinkstock

Venting on Social Media

Social media is a blessing and a curse. Venting your rage at someone or damning something online may feel good at the time, but before you tweet or post in anger, consider the consequences. If the target of your rage is a person or group of people, or even a company (indeed, especially a company), you could be sued for harassment, libel or defamation. Most of the time, you cannot undo what you’ve written, which will live forever somewhere on the Internet. Rage, exaggerations, negative commentary or false statements—these can lead to reputational damage, negative employment consequences, and a costly legal mess. You may recall in the headlines the case where Donald Trump sued a contestant in the Miss Universe Pageant (which Trump owns) for making defamatory statements about the pageant on Facebook. Trump won a $5 million judgment! Even those without such means can take to the Internet and respond in kind, or file an action publicly in the courts. A few words can cost you thousands.

Failing to Document Contractual Relationships

Ah, trust. How quaint. So-called “handshake” agreements are very dangerous things. This becomes frighteningly apparent when a dispute arises among the parties. It can be very difficult to establish the existence of a valid oral agreement (as opposed to an agreement in writing). And even if an oral agreement is established, its terms are often difficult to interpret or define. It is not uncommon for us to see a client who believed he or she was a “partner” in a business only to discover he or she had no rights at all. Or, take someone who thought he or she had purchased or sold an order of goods or services, only to discover the other side was not obligated to provide or pay for the order at all. Handshakes are yesterday’s news, today’s blues. “Get it in writing!” We like to see written agreements as road maps, with clear directions and goals on which the parties can agree at the outset of the relationship are reasonable and fair. In nearly all cases, both parties benefit from putting pen to paper after that handshake. 

Using Legal Documents Downloaded from the Internet

Really? Think you can save some money this way? Think again. This is not a matter of professional jealousy or “guild mentality.” We are constantly having to do remedial work, which is far costlier than the original work that might have been performed, for clients who have used downloaded documents. The fact of the matter is that there is very little that is “cookie cutter” in legal relationships. A well-drafted legal document requires the attorney to fully understand the circumstances and desires of the client and, the client’s counterparty, to suggest key provisions or alternatives that should be in a contract—be it an employment contract, a lease, or a limited liability company operating agreement. The location of the parties is relevant; the place of business is key; and many laws vary from state to state. We have found that these “one-size-fits-all” documents are incapable of that. In addition, they often contain poorly drafted language or outright errors. A lay person attempting to modify a document to suit his or her circumstances can often miss key issues or alternatives that are available to a competent attorney. The result can be disaster when key elements work in favor of the other party or the document itself is invalid. 

Photo credit: iStockphoto/Thinkstock

A couple of years ago, we were presented with an agreement obtained by the Executive Director of a non-profit organization, laudably trying to save his organization money. But in the end, he cost it a bundle and lost his job in the process. The E.D. had fired another senior employee (who happened to be female, older than he, and next in line for the top spot), using paperwork obtained “for free” online. His first mistake (perhaps after the termination decision itself) was having downloaded the Separation Agreement from the Internet. Bad enough the “free” legal form related to a different state—but it was not actually applicable to a senior executive, it omitted legally required terms, and it involved a terminated employee under 40 years of age. In short, it did not apply to the organization’s situation where a female senior officer, 40 years of age or older, was being let go without any prior notice. It was the wrong agreement.

Federal, state and local requirements kick in to require that certain terms be included in a Separation Agreement that has a general release of claims following the termination of an older female…none of which were reflected in the downloaded form agreement the E.D. had obtained. Making matters worse (for the organization), he had already handed the employee whom he was firing the downloaded Separation Agreement during the actual termination meeting. Now that was warm and fuzzy. The E.D. then told the soon-to-be-ex-colleague that the (incomplete and illegal) Separation Agreement was a “take it or leave it” offer that would expire in three days. (What was he thinking?) Among other things, the federal age discrimination laws permit older employees who are being terminated from employment to have 21 days within which to review and consider a Separation Agreement and, after signing, seven more days to revoke it. This was one of numerous omissions in the “free” downloaded version. (We suspect a different agreement was used when the E.D. was later fired.) In the end, the misguided effort to save his organization some money cost the non-profit tens of thousands of dollars to forestall a lawsuit by the ex-employee and fix an agreement that a seasoned employment lawyer in the right state would have taken just a few hours to prepare.

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Founding a Company without Having an Employment Agreement

A company founder/CEO should always consider having an employment agreement, because once the company has taken in substantial amounts of outside money from any sophisticated investor, he or she may become an endangered species. We know of a situation involving a senior executive who was in distress after he had just been fired by the company he founded. Bad enough that he got squeezed out of his own company, but it got worse. Without an employment contract, he had no rights, no severance and no recourse. He had founded a tech company with an innovative concept that was just beginning to achieve wide acclaim. As is the case with many others in his circumstances, he needed more funding and brought in a well-known venture capital firm. The founder still controlled the largest block of stock and thought he was set. He avoided signing an employment agreement because he did not want to be subject to restrictive covenants like non-compete and confidentiality agreements. However, a typical executive employment agreement also contains protective provisions, such as an employment term of years, or severance if things don’t work out—which can be a multiple of the executive’s compensation if he or she is terminated without cause or quits for “good reason.” 

In this case, as is typical, the venture capital firm took two seats on an already small board. The (now fired) founder had handpicked two other directors and, with them and himself as a director, believed he controlled the board. Within less than a year, however, the venture capital firm had co-opted one of the founder’s handpicked directors, and convinced him that the founder was not the right guy for the job of leading the company to success. The company was in an “at will” state where the laws provided that an employee could be terminated for any reason (or no reason) at all, at any time, without notice or severance…which is exactly what happened to the founder, who thought he was pretty crafty to keep away from signing an employment agreement. So much for being the smartest guy in the room.

Still think you’re the smartest guy (or gal) in the room? To read about five more legal mistakes that intelligent people make every day log onto edgemagonline.com. 

• Hiring Unpaid Interns or Otherwise Misclassifying Employees
• Failing to Protect Your Intellectual Property (or Infringing on Someone Else’s)
• Collaborating on Original Work without an Agreement
• Getting Married (or Remarried) without Consulting a Lawyer
• Failing to Take Action When One Employee Is Harassing Another…or Creating a Hostile Work Environment EDGE

Editor‘s Note: Helen D. (“Heidi”) Reavis and Neil Patrick Parent are Partners with Reavis Parent Lehrer LLP, based in New York City. The above does not constitute legal advice; readers are urged to seek the assistance of a qualified attorney in their location in connection with any of the areas of law discussed generally above.

HEAVEN SENT

Diego Roldan, volunteer in the Emergency Department and Hospital Elder Life Program (HELP) at Trinitas, was recently named one of the five honorees in New Jersey Monthly’s annual Seeds of Hope program.  Roldan was among 65 nominees from around the state who were considered for their influence and impact on others by supporting their communities, helping neighbors, and giving back. He frequently reads passages of the Bible to patients because he believes “God sent me here.”

John Emerson Photography, New Jersey Monthly magazine

PROGRESS IN THE WORKS

Trinitas Regional Medical Center celebrated the transformation of its Emergency Department with a ceremonial groundbreaking at the Williamson Street Campus. The $18 project to be completed in 2017 will expand the current patient exam areas to 45, up from 26, and renovate the center to move services like x-rays and CT scans closer to patients in order to accelerate delivery of emergency care. Donors, local community leaders, legislators, senior management, and members of the Emergency Department staff hailed the progress as a major step toward ensuring quality healthcare delivery to the City of Elizabeth and communities beyond.

POWERHOUSE SURGEON

Labib E. Riachi, MD, FACOG, Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Trinitas, has received subspecialty certification in pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery by the Division of Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the American Board of Urology. Since completing his training in 2001 under leading surgeons in women’s obstetrical/gynecological and urological health in Europe and the US, Dr. Riachi has performed more than 3500 of these surgeries at Trinitas.

FORMULA FOR SUCCESS

Chatham Day School hosts 4th Annual S.T.E.A.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) Expo on Saturday, January 9, 2016 from 2:00-4:00 p.m.  This event is free to the public and is excellent for the entire family.

TWO NEWCOMERS

Westfield Smiles Dental Health & Wellness Center, which has served area patients for more than three decades, recently w

elcomed two dentists to town. Dr. Maral Regas and Dr. Stephanie Arismendi joined Dr. Adam E. Feret’s general dental practice at 440 East Broad Street. “The best part of being a dentist is the feeling you made a positive difference by educating and helping patients protect their teeth and improve their smiles,” says Dr. Arismendi, a Rutgers grad. “Being part of the practice of Dr. Feret will allow me to continue to do that.”

WOMAN OF INFLUENCE

Teacher, clinical educator, and mentor, Dr. Purabi Bharatiya of the Trinitas Department of Psychiatry, was awarded the Archbishop J. John Myers Outstanding Educator Award in Medical Education from Seton Hall University.  Dr. Bharatiya, along with Dr. Anwar Y. Ghali, Chairman of Psychiatry, created and developed the Trinitas Psychiatric Residency Program.  She is shown with, from left, Gary S. Horan, President and CEO, Dr. Anwar Y. Ghali, and James McCreath, Vice President, Behavioral Health and Psychiatry.

THE DOCTORS ARE IN

Drs. Sergio Baerga and Vasyl Pidkaminetskiy, physicians newly-affiliated with Trinitas, invited the community to the offices of Trini-tas Physicians’ Practice located on St. Georges Avenue in Rahway.  Welcoming patients to the practice are from left, Joanna Ayala, Office Manger, Dr. Baerga, Eryn Mckenzie, Medical Assis-tant, and Dr. Pidkaminetskiy. Dr. Baerga is board certified in gen-eral surgery and fluent in Spanish and English while Dr. Pidkaminetskiy is board certified in family practice and internal medicine, with fluency in Ukranian, Russian, Polish and English.

AIN’T IT GRAND!

More than 200 guests, including NJ Senator Tom Kean Jr., attended the Grand Reopening party for The Kenilworth on September 29th. The boutique hotel renovated its 109 rooms and hired Rothweiler Event Designs to create 6,000 square feet of unique party and event spaces, including a downstairs lounge and an upstairs banquet facility. Both rooms showcased the offerings of  The Kenilworth’s Executive Chef, Andrew Proto. “It was thrilling to have been able to introduce our contemporary vision of the Kenilworth,” said co-owner Sonali Mody. The kenilworthinn.com web site features a visual tour of the property.

EDGE takes you inside the area’s most creative kitchens.

The Office Beer Bar & Grill • Grilled Bratwurst

728 Thompson Ave. • BRIDGEWATER 411 North Ave. West • WESTFIELD 32–34 Chestnut St. • RIDGEWOOD

We fire finish our beer-braised bratwurst on the grill and serve it with sautéed onions and peppers on a char-grilled garlic-infused baguette.

— Kevin Felice, 40North Executive Chef.

Paragon Tap & Table • Mushroom Tart

77 Central Ave. • CLARK

(732) 931-1776 • paragonnj.com

In additional to all of our craft beer and craft dishes, burgers, pastas and seasonal, local menu items, we are also very proud to offer our vegan and vegetarian experiences, including mushroom tart with roasted salsify, zucchini and French beans.

— Eric B. LeVine, Chef/Partner

A Toute Heure/100 Steps Supper Club & Raw Bar

232 Centennial Avenue / 215 Centennial Avenue • CRANFORD

(908) 276-6600 • localrootscranford.com

Our restaurants offer the best ingredients from ocean, farm, and garden on their seasonal menus. As we head into winter, the ocean offers up some of our best seasonal options—from briny local oysters and mussels, to gorgeous local catch. The colder water temperatures mean a great abundance and amazing local flavors!   

— Andrea & Jim Carbine, Owners

The Black Horse Tavern & Pub • Summer Smoked Pork Chop

1 West Main Street • MENDHAM

(973) 543–7300 • blackhorsenj.com

A succulent house-smoked chop served with micro spring herbs and Jersey blueberry gastrique.

— Kevin Felice, 40North Executive Chef

Piattino Neighborhood Bistro • Amalfi Seafood Pasta

88 East Main Street • MENDHAM

(973) 543-0025 • piattinonj.com

Sautéed shrimp and clams, tomato, roasted garlic, spinach and white wine lobster broth over linguine.

— Kevin Felice, 40North Executive Chef

The Office Beer Bar & Grill • Jersey “ Wake Up” Call

619 Bloomfield Ave. • MONTCLAIR

(973) 783-2929 • office-beerbar.com/locations/montclair

Sirloin Burger topped with pork roll, American cheese and a fried egg. Lettuce, tomato and onion!

— Kevin Felice, 40North Executive Chef

George and Martha’s American Grille • Sliced Hanger Steak

67 Morris Street • MORRISTOWN

(973) 267-4700 • georgeandmarthas.com

Served atop a sweet potato purée, with a wild mushroom demi-glaze and pan-roasted asparagus.

— Kevin Felice, 40North Executive Chef

The Office Tavern Grill • Slow Roasted Chicken Tacos

3 South Street • MORRISTOWN

(973) 285-0220 • officetaverngrill.com

Grilled flour tortilla, achiote spice, guacamole, queso fresco, cilantro and lime.

Arirang Hibachi Steakhouse • Pan Seared Scallops

1230 Route 22 West • MOUNTAINSIDE

(908) 518-9733 • partyonthegrill.com

Most guests think to visit us for an unforgettable hibachi meal, but we offer amazing traditional Japanese style dishes such as the pan seared scallops, served with a edamame purée, truffle scented greens, miso lime dressing and bok choy. We also offer the freshest sushi in the area.

Daimatsu • Grilled Oyster

860 Mountain Ave. • MOUNTAINSIDE

(908) 233-7888 • daimatsusushibar.com

Fresh jumbo Pacific oyster grilled with homemade miso sauce, fried northern puffer fish marinated in light ginger soy coated in potato starch and deep fried crunchy veggie on the side. 

— Momo, Chef

Publick House • Shepherd’s Pie

899 Mountain Ave. • MOUNTAINSIDE

(908) 233-2355 • publickhousenj.com

Our Shepherd’s Pie is an authentic homage to our Irish roots. The slow braised lamb is so tender it practically melts in your mouth. The meat is mixed with fresh herbs and vegetables, creating a stew of rich, warm flavors. Topped with garlic potato puree and browned until crispy, it pairs beautifully with a pint of craft beer.

— Danilo Ayala, Executive Chef

Luciano’s Ristorante & Lounge • House Made Mafalda Pasta Inverno Style

1579 Main Street • RAHWAY

(732) 815-1200 • lucianosristorante.com

Our goal is to give our guests a pleasurable dining experience, with fresh ingredients and personable service in a beautiful Tuscan décor complete with fireplaces. Our house-made Mafalda pasta features slow-braised artichoke crowns, cippolini onions and oven-dried tomatoes in a saffron cream broth. Luciano’s is available for dining and private parties of all types.

— Joseph Mastrella, Executive Chef/Partner

Morris Tap & Grill • Grilled Brined Pork Chop

500 Route 10 West • RANDOLPH

(973) 891-1776 • morristapandgrill.com

With the turn of the season we always change and add to our menu. We use local product to support area farmers and create seasonally to keep the menu at the peak of freshness. Grilled brined pork chop with roasted acorn squash and BBQ-dusted potato tots, maple garlic glaze.

— Eric B LeVine, Chef/Partner

Spirit: Social Eatery and Bar • Jersey Breakfast Bar Pie

250 Morris Ave. • SPRINGFIELD

(973) 258-1600 • mclynns.com

Get in the Spirit! Our Jersey Breakfast Bar Pie features potatoes, Taylor ham, cheddar cheese and onions. It doesn’t get more Jersey than that!  

— Mark Houlker, Chef

Thai Amarin • Goong Ma Kham

201 Morris Ave. • SPRINGFIELD

(973) 376-6300, (973) 376-6301 • thaiamarinnj.net

Batter fried jumbo shrimps with a tasty house made tamarind sauce,  topped with roasted almonds and served on a bed of stir-fried spinach.  

— Amy Thana, Owner

Café Z

2333 Morris Avenue • UNION

(908) 686-4321 • CafeZNJ.com

Try our fresh mozzarella and roasted red pepper appetizer, perfect with a bottle of Coppola red wine. Every Friday night is live entertainment and dancing!

— Patricia Inghilleri, Owner

Chestnut Chateau • Black Seabass

649 Chestnut Street • UNION

(908) 964-8696 • chestnutchateaunj.com

As the cold weather is in full swing, everyone bundles up and likes to stay warm. I embrace the cold and use the best fish caught in the deep blue waters of our east coast. Black seabass is great whole or filleted. The flaky white meat is served with a browned butter sauce that’s garnished with capers, baby croutons, parsley and lemon supremes.

— George Niotis, Chef

Mario’s Tutto Bene • Vinegar Pork Chops

495 Chestnut Street • UNION

(908) 687-3250 • mariostuttobene.com

Our vinegar pork chops feature three thin-cut Frenched chops that are coated with Italian breadcrumbs and sautéed with sweet vinegar peppers, prosciutto and garlic. They arrive with house-made roasted or mashed potatoes. Our regulars love this entrée.  

Rio Rodizio • Brazilian Meats

2185 Rte. 22 West • UNION

(908) 206-0060 • riorodiziounion.com

We offer an “All-You-Can-Eat” dining experience transported straight from the streets of Rio de Janeiro to your tableside. Each customer gets to witness a never-ending parade of freshly roasted meat and poultry. Our authentic Gaucho chefs carve these melt-in-your-mouth meats to your liking.

The Manor • Petite Filet Mignon & Short Ribs

111 Prospect Avenue • WEST ORANGE

(973) 731-2360 • themanorrestaurant.com

Our hearty petite filet mignon, accompanied by oh-so-rich short ribs that have been braised to tender perfection are ideal for the season. Add to that grilled baby leeks, forage mushrooms scented in bordelaise sauce, caramelized cipollini onions, and a delightfully-presented potato purée in a crisp potato basket and you have a taste of autumn well worth the visit.

— Vincent Raith, Executive Chef

New Jersey’s local flavor is available all winter long.

To many travelers speeding at 80 mph on I-95, New Jersey seems largely industrial, but it still, as it’s license plates claim, is “The Garden State”. For a century or two, New Jersey was a stretch of rich farmland, the green grocer to surrounding metropolitan areas—New York to the north and Philadelphia to the southwest. At the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, Abraham Browning, the former attorney general of New Jersey and owner of Cherry Hill Farm, referred to the state as an open-ended cornucopia filled with delicious foods with New Yorkers eating out of one end and Philadelphians eating out of the other. While Cherry Hill is now mostly developed, the state still grows a cornucopia of fruits and vegetables.

Over the years, the industrial and the garden elements of New Jersey have fused together in the food industry as some of the country’s largest food companies—Progresso, Campbell’s Soup, Seabrook Farms—manufacture in the state.

In summer months, everyone becomes a locavore with grocery stores and farmers’ markets offering a bounty of fresh, local produce. The fresh-picked tomatoes, peaches and corn all taste sweeter than any other time of the year. According to Bob Sickles, owner of Sickles Market in Little Silver, “local” has replaced “organic” as the foodie buzzword of the moment.

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Just Peachy

In early summer, the harvest of ripe peaches in New Jersey brings homemade peach ice cream, peach pies and cobblers to many Garden State tables. If you didn’t get around to jarring your sweet peaches or making peach preserves, Circle M Farms bottles the sweet fruit flavor in the liquid form of a delicious peach cider that my son loves year round.

ToMAYto, ToMAHto

With the growing season is over and if you haven’t canned your own tomatoes, how can you recreate the tastes of summer in New Jersey? To make your own sauce any time of the year, Memet Wildirim, general manager of Ashley Market-place in West Orange, says Jersey Fresh Canned Tomatoes is a good product and sells well.

Standing among baskets of a variety of field grown tomatoes, ranging from Roma to Heirloom at Sickles Market, I asked Bob Sickles, what does New Jersey offer best, food-wise, year-round? “Tomato sauces rule!” he proclaims.

Some enterprising epicureans have bottled the fresh flavors of Garden State tomatoes. For instance, Market Basket, in Franklin Lakes, jars their own tomato sauce in large batches and sells it year-round. According to the store general manager, Dave Hamersmith, they also sell other premium quality New Jersey tomato sauces, such as Jersey Gravy.

Bob Sickles explains that the local products excel over the mass-produced sauces. “While a larger production will process all the tomatoes, whether they are ripe or still green, and get a good sauce which has a higher acid flavor, the producers of the local sauces use hand-picked tomatoes and make sure they all are ripe.  This creates a sweeter sauce, which is more work intensive and therefore has to be a bit more expensive. But it’s worth it.”

Not going on Bob’s word alone, we conducted a non-scientific tomato sauce taste test engaging four individuals with limited “foodie” credentials. In the mix were four New Jersey tomato sauces with slightly differing prices that can be purchased around the state—Nanina’s (25 cents per ounce) from Belleville, Manno’s (30 cents per ounce) from Bradley Beach, Jersey Italian Gravy (40 cents per ounce) from Ridgewood and Jar Goods (50 cents per ounce) from Hoboken—as well a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon and a loaf of fresh ciabatta bread for dipping into the sauces.

According to our tasting panel, all the sauces were winners, yet different. The least expensive, Nanina’s, provides a very good, all-purpose kitchen staple. One taster’s favorite, Manno’s marinara, was particularly gutsy with herb and garlic flavors punching out on our palates. This sauce would be good with seafood. Delicious Jersey Gravy was thicker and sweet. And the rich, full-bodied Jar Goods was the densest sauce, almost like a paste, offering a fruity, sweet flavor.

Ramen Romance

When one thinks of fresh ramen noodles, the words “New Jersey” don’t come immediately to mind. Many of us would rather go ramen-less than to try to digest the curly dried noodles that look like a bad hair perm, reconstituted by water added to its chemical-based broth. Sun Noodles offers a totally different ramen experience. A few years ago Sun Noodle Brand, a producer of ramen for 30 years in Hawaii, opened a factory in Teterboro. Sun Noodles purveys its products to many Ramen shops in New York and now offers fresh ramen kits—with or without delicious, if sodium-saturated, broths—in a number of local Whole Foods and Asian markets. Yes, the dried version in your grocery store costs less than a dollar, but for fewer than five dollars, I bought the real deal at Whole Foods, garnished it with shrimp, bok choy and scallions and fed three healthy eaters. It may not be as divine as the steaming pork bone broth at Ippudo ramen shop in NYC, but it’s still delicious.

New Jersey is a food-lover’s paradise offering so many wonderful local products. For instance, there are a variety of barbeque sauces—Hoboken Eddies, Grandpa Baldy’s from Freehold, and Outer Limits hot sauces from Bayonne. Mazi Piri Piri sauce from Bradley Beach, First Field New Jersey Tomato Ketchup and Fourth Creek relishes from Rumson stand out. Enjoy the seasonal nectar of local bees’ labors with honeys, which are helpful to allergies as well as being anti-bacterial. There are many more gourmet cheeses, locally made sausages and hot dogs, and snack food. As the old advertisement goes, “Try it, you’ll like it!”

Editor’s Note: Sarah Rossbach has written for the New York Times, the Washington Post, House & Garden, and Harper’s Bazaar. When she’s not moonlighting as a feature writer for EDGE, Sarah stays busy as a feng shui consultant to designers and corporate and private clients in New York City. Vogue said of Sarah that “she is probably the American most responsible for introducing feng shui to the West.”

Reaction Time

Allergies are the result of a reaction that starts in the immune system. An allergy to eggs, for instance, means your immune system identifies a protein found in eggs as an allergen. Your immune system reacts by producing antibodies called Immunoglobulin E (IgE). These antibodies attach to cells in your skin, lungs and gastrointestinal (GI) tract. If you come in contact with the allergen again, the cells release chemicals including histamine, which cause food allergy symptoms such as itching, hives, swelling, diarrhea, wheezing and a potentially life-threatening reaction called anaphylaxis. Without immediate treatment—an injection of epinephrine and expert care in a hospital—anaphylaxis can be fatal.

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How do I identify anaphylaxis as opposed to an allergic reaction?   

An allergic reaction is responsible for affecting one organ, as is the case with common dermatological manifestations like urticaria (hives) and pruritis (itching). The signs of an allergic reaction can begin with something as simple as a rash to something more severe, such as shortness of breath and difficulty breathing. Anaphylaxis involves the skin and additional organs. On the spectrum of allergic responses, anaphylaxis is a profound reaction.

When does an allergic reaction demand a visit to the ER?

When you suspect anaphylaxis. Symptoms may include difficulty breathing, dizziness or loss of consciousness. If you experience any of these symptoms in the context of eating, immediately call 911. If you have known food allergies and have been prescribed auto-injectable epinephrine, use it and then call 911. In either case, don’t wait to see if your symptoms go away or get better on their own.

What are the typical causes of profound allergic reactions?

In 2014, an article in the Journal of Allergy Clinical Immunology found that anaphylaxis in adult patients was triggered 34% of the time by medications, 31% by food, 20% by insect stings and environmental allergens, 2.6% by latex, 1.2% by exercise, and 11% by unknown factors. When you factor in children, food allergy has become the most common cause of anaphylaxis overall in the United States.

Safety Steps

A good day for me and my staff is a day when we don’t have to treat an anaphylaxis case. There are some basic steps you can take to help make that happen…

• Always ask about ingredients when eating at restaurants or when eating foods prepared by family or friends.
• Carefully read food labels. The United States and many other countries require that major food allergens (milk, egg, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, wheat, peanuts and soybeans) be listed in easy-to-understand language.
• If applicable, carry with you—and know how to use auto-injectable epinephrine and antihistamines to treat emergency reactions.
• Teach family members and other people close to you how to use auto-injectable epinephrine and consider wearing an ID bracelet that describes your allergy.
• If a reaction occurs, have someone take you to the emergency room, even if symptoms subside. Afterwards, get follow-up care from your allergist.

What percentage of children have food allergies?

Generally, food allergy in children has an estimated prevalence of 8% in the United States, with approximately 150 deaths per year. Common food allergens include eggs, milk, soy, peanuts, tree nuts and shellfish. Tree nuts and peanuts are responsible for a large proportion of anaphylactic reactions. All patients with food allergies should avoid contact with these products, including contact with areas where these foods are prepared.

Can kids “outgrow” an allergic reaction to a food, ingredient or spice?

Most children outgrow their allergies to cow’s milk, egg, soy and wheat, even if they have a history of a severe reaction. However, shellfish allergy tends to persist through adulthood. Repeat allergy testing with your allergist can help you learn if you or your child’s food allergies are resolving with time.

I’m lactose intolerant. Does that mean I’m allergic to milk?

There is a difference between food allergy and food intolerance. A food allergy involves the immune system while food intolerance—and lactose intolerance is a good example—does not. Food intolerance typically involves the GI tract, causing uncomfortable symptoms like abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. But there is no risk of anaphylaxis.

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Can stress trigger allergies?

When you’re all stressed out, your body releases hormones and other chemical— including histamine, that powerful chemical that leads to allergy symptoms. While stress doesn’t actually cause allergies, it can make an allergic reaction worse by increasing the amount of histamine in your bloodstream.

Do you have a hot topic for Dr. D’Angelo and his Trinitas ER team?

Submit your questions to AskDrD@edgemagonline.com

Editor’s Note: John D’Angelo, DO, is the Chairman of Emergency Medicine at Trinitas Regional Medical Center. He has been instrumental in introducing key emergency medical protocols at Trinitas, including the life-saving Code STemi, which significantly reduces the amount of time it takes for cardiac patients to move from the emergency setting to the cardiac catheterization lab for treatment.

An award-winning patient has transformed the culture of the Linden Dialysis Center.

For nearly four decades, Angela Taggart has successfully managed her renal failure through regular dialysis sessions, adherence to her doctors’ orders, and the support of her family. Even so, nothing has impacted her success as profoundly as her faith and her outlook—an outlook so inspiring that she was recently honored with the Patient Engagement Award from a major national renal disease network.  

Photos by Kathryn Salamone

Angela’s sessions at the 5-star CMS-rated Linden Dialysis Center begin with a ritual Hello to each of her fellow patients. Ruby Codjoe, RN, is the Unit Manager of the facility, which is a satellite operation of Trinitas Regional Medical Center. She has known Angela as a patient for the last 20 years. Ruby strategically seats new patients, who are sometimes depressed and upset at their own conditions, next to Angela so she can spread her own life lessons, share her insights, and offer encouragement that renal disease doesn’t have to take over a person’s life

“It is amazing to witness,” Ruby says. “What begins with a simple introduction to a new patient who may be sad and depressed results in a more hopeful patient, thanks to Angela fostering a positive outlook in them.”

When it was time to nominate a patient for the annual Patient Engagement Award presented by Quality Insights Renal Network 3 (QIRN3), Ruby immediately submitted Angela’s name.  “George Elliot once said, ‘It’s never too late to be who you might have been.’ It’s a perfect way to describe how Angela lives her life.”

Angela Taggart is an inspiration to all dialysis patients, according to Joan Wickizer, Patient Services Director at QIRN3.  “The thing that struck us about Angela’s story was how she serves as a cheerleader for other patients,” she says. “And how, for more than 30 years. she’s maintained such a full, engaged life.”

For the record, it’s 38 years. Angela started dialysis at just 20 years old. She has made a point of trying to live every day as if it could be her last. In the early days of her treatment—following a failed kidney transplant that led to life-threatening complications—she was befriended by an elderly fellow patient who passed along life-changing advice: learn.  

“He told me to take charge of my situation,” Angela remembers, “and learn what the machines do. Get involved in your treatment.  Ask questions. By staying engaged, you take back your independence.  I’ve been ‘in school’ for 38 years, and I never stop learning.”

In that spirit, Angela set a goal of returning to school and, in 1996, almost 20 years after being diagnosed with renal failure, she graduated from Kean University with a degree in Business Management and a teaching certificate for Special Education.  A stint with AmeriCorps followed, and she went on to teach preschool at Rahway’s Destiny After School Haven, as well as substitute teaching for the Elizabeth and Rahway school systems.  

The Patient Engagement Award notwithstanding, Angela doesn’t see herself as an example. In fact, when she was told she would be receiving the honor, she thought it was a practical joke.  

“I think that sometimes I’m a complainer,” Angela laughs. “I’m constantly asking questions, wanting to know how things work or why they’re being done, advocating on behalf of the other patients.”

Indeed, she advises and inspires others grappling with their illness and treatment. Playing that role means staying in constant, persistent communication with the staff at the Linden Dialysis Center. Angela pays attention to the small details that can make dialysis a more positive experience, from better Wi-Fi service to the comfort of the chairs.  She helps the center staff understand what it means to be a dialysis patient, including “bad days” when a patient might prefer simply to be left alone with the machine and a television.

Angela reminds her fellow patients to never stop asking questions or learning about their own treatments. She encourages them to pay attention to their bodies and listen for cues, reminding them that nurses and doctors can only do so much; it’s up to the patients to communicate how they’re feeling and responding. 

Angela says her strength is based in faith, and in her belief that prayer can work miracles.  She is a leader in her Church community, and never stops looking for ways to transfer that faith and grace to her fellow patients.  By initiating activities like a Birthday Card Campaign for patients who have left the center and the ‘Encourage Your Nurse’ project, she has turned the dialysis center into a real community, with a network of love and support.

Angela’s always seeking new ways to encourage other patients and the staff, and remains in Ruby’s words “tenacious, resilient, and ambitious.”  Naturally, whenever the center gets a new machine or other equipment, she asks for the manual and reads it during treatment.

Angela is engaged…the recognition from QIRN3 confirms it.

She exemplifies the life of someone who truly cares for others and will do everything in her power…for everyone she comes in contact with reads the nomination submitted by Ruby Codjoe and other members of the Linden team. She is the example of beating the odds no matter the obstacles that come her way

A pair of recent breakthroughs hold promise for type 1 and type 2 sufferers

Americans may be living longer, but they’re also living sicker. Chronic and acute illnesses are on the rise, most notably diabetes. According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), diabetes causes more deaths per year than breast cancer and AIDS combined. Diabetes affects 25.8 million Americans, about 8.3% of the population; it is the seventh leading cause of death in the U.S. and sixth in our state.

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Not surprisingly, doctors have become hyper-vigilant when it comes to certain factors related to diabetic or pre-diabetic conditions. Nor should it come as a surprise that medical researchers and scientists around the world are working hard to find ways to prevent, manage and even cure this disease. In the last half of 2015 alone, several significant breakthroughs were reported. They ranged from new medical procedures to behavioral and dietary tweaks. Although a long-term magic-bullet cure is unlikely, the past year has produced some eye-opening results.

BioHub Breakthrough

A Texas woman named Wendy Peacock was introduced this summer as the first transplant recipient of a BioHub that mimics the pancreas. Peacock, who is in her 40s, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes as a teenager and suffers from severe hypoglycemia unawareness—a dangerous drop in blood sugar that could cause her to faint without warning, or even slip into a coma while she’s asleep. With the implanted bio-engineered “mini-organ” she now has normal glucose levels and no longer needs to inject herself with supplemental insulin.

You Can Manage Your Diabetes!

If you’ve just been diagnosed, or if you’ve been living with diabetes, quality medical care, encouragement and education can make a difference in your daily life.

As an American Diabetes Association fully-accredited diabetes center, the Diabetes Management Center at Trinitas Regional Medical Center is a center you can trust to help you effectively manage your diabetes.

Ari Eckman, MD

Director, Trinitas Diabetes Management Center

Graduate of Johns-Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore Specialist in Diabetes, Endocrinology & Metabolism committed to patient care and education

A respected staff of certified diabetes nurses, educators and nutritionists offer classes and one-on-one counseling

Quality medical care and attentive nursing support designed with you in mind to make diabetes a manageable part of your life

TRINITAS DIABETES MANAGEMENT CENTER

Medical Office Building, Suite 202  | 240 Williamson Street  | Elizabeth, NJ  | 908.994.5490THE HIGH COST OF HELPING

Statistics released by the ADA in 2013 on the cost of managing America’s diabetes problem were staggering:

• $245 billion: Total costs of diagnosed diabetes
• $176 billion for direct medical costs
• $69 billion in reduced productivity

A further breakdown of statistical evidence regarding diabetic-related expenses reveals:

• Inpatient hospital care (43%)
• Prescription medications to treat complications (18%)
• Anti-diabetic agents and diabetic supplies (12%)
• Physician office visits (9%)
• Nursing/residential facility stays (8%)

“As any type 1 knows, you live on a very structured schedule,” she said during a September press conference at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. “I do a mental checklist every day in my head: glucose tabs, food, glucometer, et cetera… Then I stop and say, ‘Wow! I don’t have to plan that anymore.’ Laying down at night and going to sleep and not having to worry about lows is something that is so foreign to me. It’s surreal to me. I’m still processing the fact that I’m not taking insulin anymore.”

The BioHub, which contains islet cells that restore natural insulin production, promises to be “a game-changer for millions of people,” according to Dr. Camillo Ricordi, who directed the project. Islet transplantation is not a new approach, but it has only been used in the liver until now.

The minimally invasive procedure required only three incisions, and doctors said they expected to perform 20 or 30 more at Miller School of Medicine in the coming year. And other diabetes centers will almost certainly join the BioHub trial.

Meanwhile, Peacock has no restrictions other than the diet and lifestyle a physician would recommend to any non-diabetic patient. “I feel like a great weight has been lifted,” she said, “I can breathe again.”

Type 1 diabetes is often referred to as Juvenile Diabetes, as it typically affects children and young adults. About one in every 600 children in the United States develops Type 1 diabetes, making it one of the most common chronic diseases in children. Symptoms usually occur during puberty, but it’s on the rise among younger children, some under the age of 5. Type 2 is often diet-related. It used to occur mainly in adults who were overweight and older than 40, however as childhood obesity rates rise, type 2 is on the rise among young people aged 10 and over. Per a 2012 CDC report, more than one-third of children and adolescents were overweight or obese. Childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents. Type 2 is not as life-threatening or dramatic as Type 1 at the time of diagnosis, but it can trigger serious long-term complications such as blindness, kidney disease, heart disease and limb amputation if left untreated.

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THAT WOULD BE FALSE

According to the International Diabetes Federation, misconceptions about diabetes persist despite volumes of scientific and statistical evidence to the contrary:

1. Diabetes only affects old people!

FALSE! Diabetes affects all age groups.

2. Diabetes is not a killer disease!

FALSE! Diabetes is a global killer that is responsible for more than 4 million deaths a year. In fact, someone dies from diabetes-related complications about every 7 seconds.

3. Diabetes predominantly affects men!

FALSE! Diabetes affects both men and women. In fact, diabetes today is on the rise among women along with a dramatic increase in Juvenile Diabetes.

4. Diabetes cannot be prevented!

FALSE!Up to 80% of Type 2 diabetes is preventable by making healthy diet changes, increasing physical activity, and improving general lifestyle choices.

5. Diabetes only affects prosperous societies!FALSE! Diabetes is a rising threat to all socio-economic groups, both in the US and globally.

Structure Settlement

Researchers looking at type 2 diabetes have begun to explore the way everyday foods are made. A study in England looked at what happens when the natural structure of dietary fiber is preserved during food production. The study’s findings, published in Diabetes Week, suggest that doing so slows the rise in blood sugar level following a meal. If this is indeed the case, it could lead to food products that look, feel and taste the same as existing products—but with an enzyme-resistant structure surrounding the starch, which would enable these foods to be digested more slowly.

The way starch is metabolized is relevant to a number of weight-related conditions, including type 2 diabetes.

The dietary fiber of grains forms a “protective” network of cell walls around starch. However, milling grains to produce different types of flour damages these cell walls, which enables the body to digest starch more quickly.

Study subjects were given a wheat porridge made of the identical ingredients, with one made of coarser particles and one finely milled. The people consuming the porridge with the larger particles showed 33 percent lower blood sugar levels after the meal, and insulin responses that were 43 percent lower. They also experienced less of a sugar crash.

The results strongly suggest that milling techniques that maintain the microstructure of grains such as wheat might be the key to a new wave of diabetic-friendly white bread, breakfast cereals and pasta.

Diabetes-related costs in the U.S. rose from $174 billion in 2007 to $245 billion in 2012—a 41 percent jump over 5 years. Medical expenses for diabetics, on average, are 2.3 times higher than for non-diabetics. Indirect costs such as absenteeism, reduced productivity, and disability claims cost untold additional billions. Within the scientific and medical communities, the disease is generally acknowledged as having reached pandemic proportions.

The hope is that a multinational, multifaceted approach to the problem will help turn those numbers around in the near future. Lifestyle modifications encouraging healthy eating habits and promoting physical activity can help lower risk of becoming of becoming obese and contracting related diseases. Ironically, the greatest challenge may not be the scientific hurdles, but instead the cultural ones. Humans are consuming more and exercising less. There may never be a cure for that.

Editor’s Note: Special thanks to Yelena Samofalov, MD of the Trinitas Pediatric Health Center for her input on this story. See page 66 for more from Dr. Samofalov on TRMC’s Eat Right Today! Program.

Read this story before you buy that painting!

Art is a very personal thing. You must like it when you buy it, because you may have to live with it. The chances of an average Joe (or Jane) finding something exceptional out of pure, dumb luck are probably less than 5 percent, meaning you’d have to gamble on 25 or 30 paintings before finding a monster bargain. Who’s got that kind of time? Or money? Or wall space?

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If you are someone who has decided to invest a few thousand dollars (or much more) in high-quality art, and are determined to go it alone, the places you are most likely to encounter the painting that sings to you are an antique store, auction, estate sale or a gallery that specializes in older works or works of listed artists. Often, like true love, you find that special work of art when you aren’t even looking for it. An unseasoned buyer may panic and pass…or panic and overpay.

Things can get especially complicated if there is no signature and no attribution. How in the world do you get a value? How do you know the price a gallery or dealer or antique store slaps on a mystery painting is fair? Unfortunately, the answer is, “It’s a muscle you work over time.” Experience, research, some wins, some losses. Usually, the first thing I’ll ask myself in these situations is, “Does this painting accomplish what it’s supposed to accomplish?” That being said, my husband and I have both bought paintings that passed the basic sniff test, but ultimately weren’t what we wanted them to be.

If I form an emotional attachment to a painting, often that’s enough to spend $500 or $700. I have works of art that I adore with no signature and I couldn’t care less. They serve me well. And sometimes that’s okay. Again, buy what you like. That’s a decent starting point.

So what’s my magic formula for buying smart? As I look back on my career and experiences as an art historian, dealer, appraiser and collector, I think it’s a little bit of patience, a fair amount of scholarship, and being in the right place at the right time. I offer as evidence four war stories…

YOUTH IS SERVED

When I was starting the field in the early 1980s, the gallery owner I worked for purchased an unsigned American impressionist painting for around $1,000. I felt it had been executed by John Leslie Breck (1859–1899), the artist who is often considered the first American to bring the French Impressionist art movement to the U.S., after befriending Monet. Breck died at 39, so his body of work was very small. I implored him not to sell it; I told him I had this hunch. This took me on another adventure. I knew someone in Boston at the St. Botolph Club, an exclusive arts club which, at the time, was still restricted to male membership. He arranged a private viewing of several Breck paintings and drawings they had in their amazing collection. I left completely convinced that the $1,000 painting was by him, which made it a $30,000 painting. Today, it might sell for over $300,000. I was just 22 years old at the time.

ART BUYER’S CHECKLIST

The more you know, the less money you’re likely to blow so, as mentioned earlier, a little bit of scholarship can go a long way. However, anyone who comes across an old painting that “speaks to them” should be armed with a checklist to help keep a potential investment in perspective:

• Does it appeal to me?
• Is it likely to hold the same appeal to others?
• Does the subject matter make sense?

The old saying that a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing applies here. You may know that an artist’s work is prized, and make an educated guess on value. But have you considered what the subject of your painting is? If an artist is known for seascapes and you find a painting of his or her grandmother, you are not comparing apples to apples. You are comparing apples to oranges (or worse).

• Is the condition acceptable?

Here you have a little wiggle room. If a painting is centuries old and has damage or evidence of in-painting, you can live with that. If a painting is 50 years old and in poor condition, as an investment you really can’t tolerate that. Remember to check front and back.

• Has it been repaired?

Never ever compare a painting that’s been restored to one that is in pristine condition. The most obvious signs of repair is if a painting has been re-lined or if there is an application of another material. So for instance, reinforcement behind an oil on canvas means the integrity of the painting has been disrupted. There was a tear, or mold or water damage. Also, don’t spend serious money on a painting older than 1960 or so without first seeing it under a black light (a handheld one is a modest investment). New paint fluoresces. However, be aware that masking varnishes can be used—if it’s worth faking, it will be done.

• What info is on the back of the painting?

Are there numbers in the corner, drawn or written in chalk?This suggests that has been up for auction at some point and you may be able to find out more about it—including the selling price. Is there a label that says it was exhibited at a gallery or museum? Or is there some record of ownership? All of these details can be very helpful in your sleuthing; your goal is to extract the painting’s provenance, which can dramatically affect its value.

• Is it in a quality frame?

A period frame signed by the artist (usually just initials) indicates that he or she went to great expense to showcase the work.

• What does the seller know about the painting?

Never buy a painting without asking the seller what he or she knows about it. It is not out of bounds to ask where the seller bought it, either. Provenance can be critical in determining the fact behind a work of art, not to mention its value.

• Have you done any research?

A lot of people are discouraged researching art because auction sites generally don’t reveal selling prices unless you subscribe to a service, like Artfact or Artnext, that gives you access to this information. And auction sites are often among the first entries to come up in Google searches. The good news is there are some great free research sites, including ones run by the Getty Research Institute, the Smithsonian (Siris), the National Portrait Gallery, the Guggenheim, the Louvre and the National Gallery of Art.

• Is my information current?

Don’t assume that something that was worth “X” 20 years ago will be worth “2X” today. In the late 1990s, people were killing each other to buy Louis Icart. Now I can’t give them away.

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FAIRY TALE ENDING

Once upon a time, we bought five small illustrations of nursery rhymes at a local auction. They were from the late 19th century and were exquisitely done. They bore no signatures. For the better part of 10 years, I tried to get attributions. I didn’t even know if they were American or British. I did feel strongly that they were done by a female artist. There were fingerprints—not literally, of course, but tantalizing clues. I did extensive research and contacted many colleagues in the art world, but could never get an exact match to an artist. We have a particular client who really likes unpublished illustrations. I pulled them out for him because I thought he might recognize the work. He loved seeing them, yet even he couldn’t shed any more light on their origin.

Some time later, we were up in Massachusetts visiting an art dealer friend. She happened to own a book from the same period that had never been published. She asked if I’d like to see it, and the instant I saw just the title page I knew exactly who my artist was. It was someone with whom I was well acquainted…I could have kicked myself! The artist was Laura Coombs Hills (1859–1952) and it turned out my illustrations were meant to be Christmas cards published by Louis Prang & Co. circa 1897. And with this new information, the value of the five pieces went up about eight times.

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BUT I BOUGHT IT IN AN ANTIQUE STORE

Overpaying for art in antique stores happens from time to time. That doesn’t surprise me. There is not as much crossover in the fields of furniture and art as there should be, so some dealers don’t know a whole lot more about a painting than what they paid, and maybe what someone paid for something similar at an auction. That can lead to overpricing. However, it also means you can stumble past a phenomenal bargain without even realizing it. You may also have more negotiating room than with a dealer of fine art. Antique stores often try to buy items with a 100% markup in mind. This is because they deal with decorators, who take a big bite out of the pieces they purchase on behalf of their clients. It’s built into the business, so why not haggle a little?

STEALING ONE FOR A C-NOTE

We were at an auction among people we knew had a lot of knowledge about fine art. A William Brice (1921–2008) painting came up. He was a California modernist. The pure quality of the painting drew us in. But the front of a painting tells you only so much. If you don’t look at the back, you’re missing a crucial part of the story—maybe even the whole story. In this case, there was an exhibition label on the back. That told us this particular painting was well recognized in its time, which was the 1950s.

No one else noticed. No one else bid. We got it for $100. Now his work is taking off. A well-advised collector would expect to pay in the neighborhood of $20,000 in today’s market for a piece of this quality, subject, size, condition and period.

I have to say, there’s a special satisfaction when you’re with the art mob and you manage to eke one out like that.

People know us and were watching us all auction to see what we were and weren’t bidding on. In this case we kept things very low-key.

A BEAUTIFUL CIRCLE

My husband attended a garage sale and the owner turned out to be friendly with a New Yorker illustrator. She had ended up with a lot of belongings from the illustrator’s estate. The collection was being housed in her garage. At the time, she wasn’t really ready to sell off her trove of illustrations. Our interest never waned.

The artist was Barbara Shermund (1899-1978), and she had been on the original team of illustrators for the magazine. My husband put me in charge of the research and inventory process. What a complete pleasure it was. We even had a retrospective exhibition for her witty and wonderful pen-and-ink original images.

We periodically looped back to her.  We learned that she had gifted some of the works to her kids.  And then, about two years later, we found out her garage had been broken into and also had experienced some minor flooding issues. That was the decisive moment; we convinced her to sell what remained—about 800 illustrations in all.

The Houghton Library Collection of American Illustrators learned about our find and a benefactor purchased more than 100 pieces and donated them to that library at Harvard. Liza Donnelly, a current illustrator at The New Yorker who was writing a book called Funny Ladies of The New Yorker, found out, too. She interviewed me for her very successful book. The artist’s great niece contacted me and wants to write the definitive book on her. There is also interest now from a museum in San Francisco to mount an exhibit of her illustrations.

SMARTPHONES LIVE UP TO THEIR NAME

You’ve found the painting of your dreams. It looks right, the price seems fair, but you’re just not sure. Time to whip out your smart phone. If you are a seasoned buyer, then you are already logged into a subscription service (AskArt costs $100/month) to help you determine its value. If not, don’t underestimate the power of eBay. You’re looking for “completed sales” (they’re in green—don’t look at the red prices—this recently changed). Type in your search words, go to refine, then show more, then sold items. What I like about this is that it shows you the good, the bad and the ugly. Look for the most recent auctions, and take note of any regional differences.

QUICK! WHICH WOULD YOU PICK?

Musicians or Venice? One is wall candy, the other runs into serious dollars. Made your decision? Okay, here goes…

The Musicians painting on the left is what I would refer to as a decorative piece: pleasing to look at, easy to interpret and utilizing only a moderate degree of skill. It’s not a deep image, but it’s light, dynamic and charming, albeit somewhat superficial. The signature is completely indiscernible (this could be intentional) so I cannot look up the artist’s bio or see any type of track record. A closer look indicates materials that would not be considered high-quality or archival (stretcher wood, frame, canvas). In spite of this, it’s an enjoyable decoration, but that is its only value.

Venice, on the other hand, is a serious piece by Ida Dengrove (1915-2005)—a trained fine artist who is listed and easily researched. A bio reveals her schooling, exhibitions and many accomplishments. The painting itself employs a beautiful balance of perspective and color values, and is a homage to cubist painters who came before her.

There is a rhythm and an emotional tangibility to the scene. This view of busy Venetian streets is complex. Her deliberate brush strokes evoke a time, a place, a temperature, and so much more. Looking at the “verso” of this painting, you’d immediately see the finer quality materials as well as the labels and notes indicating a serious-minded artist.

This was a great find, and a team effort that turned out to be very profitable. To me, as an art historian, however, the more important piece was that through luck and persistence, I was able to re-open and re-invent an artist whose life’s work was relegated to a suburban garage. Wow. This amazing journey has made me now want to shed more light on other artists from the first quarter of the 20th century. It also got me more interested in illustrations. It was a beautiful circle.

My first piece of advice to friends and clients who are embarking on this journey is don’t get discouraged before you even get out there. Very good art can slip through the cracks because of generational swings of taste and interest. It can pass down into the hands of a family member who doesn’t appreciate its quality.

And yes, sometimes it’s just sitting there, for no good reason at all, waiting for the average Joe (or Jane) to snap it up for a song.

Unless I beat you to it, of course.

Editor’s Note: The author’s husband, Chris, penned one of our most popular articles a couple of years back: Storage Warrior. Like all of our past stories, this one can be accessed at edgemagonline.com. Rose says he hasn’t shot himself recently with a gun-pen (now you’re curious, aren’t you?). The Myers own Shore Antique Center in Allenhurst.

A new book by columnist Rachel Weston digs into New Jersey’s agricultural bounty.

It’s a book about cooking, not a cookbook, Rachel Weston explains. The author of New Jersey Fresh: Four Seasons from Farm to Table is underselling her contribution to the popular American Palate series. Her book is not only the first of its kind within this regional collection, it stands alone as a thoughtful and engaging compendium of everything that bursts from the ground in the Garden State.

New Jersey Fresh begins by taking the reader inside the state’s farms and farmers markets, profiling people who have dedicated their lives to agriculture—some relatively new to the business, others who’ve been in it for generations. The bulk of the book is dedicated to produce by season.

Within each, every vegetable and fruit gets its due from Weston, who has crafted individual six-paragraph (or so) essays on fava beans, Swiss chard, nectarines, parsley and 50 other menu items. Those essays include tips and tricks for buying and preparing and, often, a look at how the state’s better restaurants serve them. At the back of the book is a collection of recipes from well-known Jersey chefs.

The History Press

“I was always interested in cooking,” says Weston.

She began her culinary journey as a girl, after her parents split, when she and her sister often cooked their meals while her mother worked. Her grandfather was a chef, so it was already folded into her DNA. An interest in journalism took her in a slightly different direction, however, as Weston worked for many years as a newspaper photo editor, including stints at the Asbury Park Press and Newark Star-Ledger.

BACK TO SCHOOL

In the early days of the recession, the Ledger offered buyouts to its longtime employees. Weston took the money and enrolled in Promise Culinary School in New Brunswick. The school is affiliated with Elijah’s Promise, an organization that aims to harness the power of food to “break the cycle of poverty, alleviate hunger and change lives.” From 2009 to 2014, she honed her skills at the Better World Café in Highland Park, the state’s first pay-what-you-can restaurant, which inspired Bon Jovi’s JBJ Soul Kitchen in Red Bank.

“I worked with an all-volunteer staff, many of whom came with no kitchen skills,” she recalls. “So I was always teaching. And at night, I taught at the culinary school.”

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Weston was also thinking about putting her knowledge into prose. She reached out to her old newspaper contacts. The result was a weekly In Season column at nj.com, which in turn served as the inspiration for New Jersey Fresh.

The book was released in late spring 2015 and she’s been busy promoting it all summer and fall.

“I’ve really enjoyed meeting people during my appearances around the state,” Weston says. “One woman came up to me and said, ‘Rhubarb…what do you do with this?’”

From pages 51–52: I go a little rhubarb crazy and experiment like mad with new recipes every year. If you are lucky enough to have some rose bushes in bloom, rhubarb and rosewater syrup is wonderful as a base for cocktail or seltzer drinks. Drizzle some over your morning yogurt with chopped pistachios for a Persian flair. I like to bottle the pink syrup and give it as gifts.

As they say in food court…asked and answered.

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BUYING LOCAL

In getting to know New Jersey’s farms and farmers, Weston also became acutely aware of the impact that individual shopping decisions can have. “When you are making a purchase at a supermarket versus a farmers market,” she points out, “it has a huge influence on the local culture and economy.”

Not that it’s possible to patronize farm stands for every shopping trip, Weston admits, but it’s worth the extra effort when you can, both for you and the farmer.

The nature of information-packed books is that authors, to their frustration, end up having to leave a few things out. What’s not in New Jersey Fresh?

“I would have liked to have gone beyond produce,” Weston says. “New Jersey makes wonderful cheeses. We have meat from pastured animals. And there are wonderful artisan food products made with locally grown produce. This book just touches on these things.”

According to her devoted readers, something else is “missing”: Weston’s own favorite recipes. This is the constant chorus from her readers, she says.

“So I’ve started work on a cookbook.”

SALAD & SQUASH

New Jersey Fresh: Four Seasons from Farm to Table features signature recipes from some of the state’s top restaurants. Here are two that would be a good fit for virtually any holiday table:

Endive Caesar Salad

The Orange Squirrel • Bloomfield

2 endive heads

1 pkg. marinated white anchovies (appx. 12) ½ cup fresh grated Parmesan

Dressing

1 egg yolk

½ tbsp. salt

½ tsp. dry mustard

2 tsp. lemon juice

1 tbsp. white wine vinegar

1 cup vegetable oil

½ tbsp. fresh ground pepper

1 tbsp. roasted pureed garlic

1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

1. Whisk together the egg yolk and mustard. Slowly drizzle in oil while whisking to create an emulsion.
2. After dressing is fully emulsified, add lemon juice, vinegar, garlic Worcestershire, salt and Parmesan.
3. Cut apart endive. Dress each leaf individually and then stack about a dozen leaves, starting with the larger on the bottom and smaller on top, in a crisscross pattern.
4. Top with 3 anchovies per salad.
5. Sprinkle with grated cheese and black pepper. Option: add thin bread croutons as a garnish.

Acorn Squash Moranga Samba • Montclair

2 med. acorn squash

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

2 med. White onions, diced

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 med. Butternut squash, diced 1 pt. heavy cream

1 13.5 ounce can of coconut milk 1 pound jumbo shrimp

¼ cup shaved Parmesan parsley & cilantro for garnish

1. Cut acorn squash in half and remove seeds, creating a bowl. Cover with aluminum foil and cook at 350 degrees (60 to 75 minutes) until tender.
2. Heat oil in a large skillet. Over medium heat bloom the onion with garlic and caramelize the butternut squash. When squash is tender, add the heavy cream and coconut milk and simmer.
3. Add shrimp and cook for another 4 minutes.
4. Pour the cooked butternut squash and shrimp mixture into the acorn squash. Garnish with parsley, cilantro and Parmesan.

Chef Francesco Palmieri/The Orange Squirrel

Editor’s Note: New Jersey Fresh (Arcadia/History Press, 2015, $19.99) is available at bookstores and other retail outlets around the state, and as an eBook. However, if you order directly from the author at racheljweston.com, you’ll receive your copy signed! Her web site also has a schedule of personal appearances and demos.

Discovering the Galapagos

Penguins darting like torpedoes between boats moored in clear blue water. Barking sea lions jostling for the best seat on the pier’s benches. Those were the sights and sounds that greeted the water taxi as it pulled into Puerto Villamil on Isabela Island, the largest in the Galapagos archipelago. It was a dramatically different world from mainland Ecuador. Or any other place I had seen as a globetrotting journalist. In a word, it was magical.

The plan was to island-hop with the goal of seeing as many of the famously unique species as humanly possible. According to the Galapagos Conservancy, about 80 percent of the land birds, 97 percent of the reptiles and land mammals, and more than 30 percent of the plants are endemic. The best months to visit are August through November because the migratory patterns of just about all the animals, birds, reptiles and fish bring them into view on the islands during this window.

Most Americans tour the Galapagos on some kind of group excursion. Getting to know strangers from other places—and experiencing the islands through their eyes—can be part of the fun.

The members of my international crew were actually part of a sort of extended family. My Ukrainian-American mother, Christina, had retired to a seaside village in Ecuador a few years ago. Her Ecuadorian friend, Maria, came up with the idea to make the trip to the islands (which sit roughly 600 miles off the Ecuadorian coast). It turns out Maria’s parents had actually lived on one of the islands, Floriana, some 70 years ago, when her father worked for the government. Yet neither Maria nor my mother had ever been.

Maria’s husband, Washington, knew the Galapagos. He’d been stationed there while serving in the Ecuadorian military in the 1970s. Our trip would be his first time back. Maria and Washington’s adult children, Cristina and Santiago, were the fourth and fifth members of the entourage. Cristina attends university in Germany; Santiago works in Quito and had visited the Galapagos as a boy. I flew in from Washington D.C. and Cristina’s friend, Louis, traveled from the United Kingdom to make it a lucky seven.

We began our journey in Puerto Ayora, most populous town on Santa Cruz and the tourist hub of the islands. There we began our love affair with Galapagos snorkeling. The biodiversity was astounding, though not always what I’d expected. I’ve done a lot of snorkeling in warm water, including the Red Sea, where colorful fish and plants live among stunning coral formations. In the frigid waters off Santa Cruz, the colors were muted and the sea floor crowded with starfish, sea cucumbers and various non-tropical fish species. In the deep water areas sharks swam stealthily below us.

Las Grietas, off Santa Cruz, translates to The Crevices. It was unforgettable. After a water taxi ride to Finch Bay and a 20-or-so-minute hike past a swanky hotel and idyllic lagoons, we swam between tall cliffs with rock walls that plunged deep into water so crystal-clear water you could see right down to the bottom.

THE LOCALS

While tourism may be the one and only industry on the islands, the attitude toward actual tourists can be uneven. For example, the owner of our hotel on Santa Cruz barely apologized for canceling one of our three reserved rooms, forcing me, my mother, Washington and Maria to be roommates for a night.

“The main income for Galapagos is tourism,” Santiago explained, “but they are not focused on the service aspect of tourism. [Many of the guides] try to trick you in order for you to hire them for everything, and they charge you whatever they want.”

Santiago, I had come to realize, possessed a highly developed sense of honor. During dinner one night a waitress mistakenly charged us for 6 entrees instead of 7. After reviewing the bill, he corrected the error as opposed to staying silent. Santiago felt everyone should at least attempt to live up to his basic standards of fairness, so when it came to the lackadaisical attitude towards tourists, as an Ecuadorian, he said he felt “annoyed and embarrassed.”

Washington added that “the taxi drivers were fine—they were quite helpful,” but, like father like son, he echoed Santiago’s sentiment about the folks in the tourist trade. “They’re kind of careless. They seem to think that, because people are going to come to the islands anyway, it doesn’t matter what they do or how you treat them. They should change that mentality.”

A few days later, on Isabela, we visited the shallower waters of the Tintoreras inlets situated just off the island. On the short Panga ride there, we saw penguins posted up on volcanic-rock islands and bright red crabs basking in the sun. Once in the water, we spotted decades-old sea turtles floating gracefully near the sea floor, and sea lions swimming close enough to grab.

“I wasn’t expecting to see the animals so close,” Louis marveled. Louis (who was half-French) turned out to be our Jacques Cousteau junior. His Go-Pro camera was always pointed at something. With Cristina’s help, he documented everything we saw above the water and below. As a bonus, Louis used his Spanish skills to extract inside information from our guides and taxi drivers.

While on Isabela we stayed in Puerto Villamil. It is a sleepy town compared to Puerta Ayora, on Santa Cruz. On the Sunday we arrived, all the shops were closed and it felt nearly uninhabited. We were lucky to find cold beer and a local woman under a walkway bridge to the beach frying up and selling the most delicious homemade meat or cheese empanadas. She made them using cassava dough, which is gluten free, instead of the flour dough I am used to in the United States.

GALAPAGOS IN A BOX

The Galapagos Islands are an archipelago of volcanic islands straddling the equator in the Pacific Ocean. They were declared a province of Ecuador in 1973.  About 25,000 people live on 18 primary islands and 3 smaller ones. The Galapagos Islands are in the cold-water Humboldt Current, which affects the water temperature and weather.

We gorged on empanadas as we took in the spectacular Malecon Cuna del Sol, a long white-sand beach surrounded by palm trees and brackish water lagoons. As I strolled along the shore later I thought my eyes deceived me. The black lava rock barrier between the sand and surf appeared to mo

ve. As I got closer I saw hundreds (and probably thousands) of land iguanas blending right in and sunning themselves.

Day after day, we ticked off items on our Galapagos bucket list. We visited Rancho Primicias, a private farm and tortoise sanctuary where the giant reptiles have free range. We strolled barefoot along the beach at Garrapaterro, where flamingos nest in the surrounding lagoons. We hiked nearly

45 minute to Tortuga Bay’s beaches to kayak and watch birds and iguanas. An 8 mile round-trip walk brought us to the Wall of Tears, a 20-foot stone wall stretching more than 300 feet that was built by prisoners at a penal colony that once existed on Isabela Island.

We walked nearly everywhere. It reminded Washington of his days as a solider on the Galapagos. Weighted down by a backpack full of gear and a gun, he recalled using his machete to hack his way through raw vegetation to get from shore to shore on just about all of the islands. Today long trails leading to many of the beaches are laid with paver stones. Other paths are made of packed earth with wooden bridges across lagoon marshes. Though traversing the land is much easier than when Maria’s parents lived there, or when Washington was in uniform, one of the takeaways was that a Galapagos vacation is an active one.

My mother, who is nearly 70, is in pretty good health and full of energy. She observed that many of the activities may be too challenging for families with small children or people with a physical infirmity, even a slight one, due to some of the terrain like steep steps, long walks and the need to constantly climb in and out of small boats.

Unanticipated costs were an occasional source of angst. We’re talking about nominal fees, such as paying for a separate water taxi after buying a full fare ferry ticket, or a small entrance fee to another island on top of the $100 tax for foreigners already paid at the main airport. But they were annoying nonetheless.

One thing that really surprised me was the amount of trash we saw. As advertised, the Galapagos Islands are an ecological wonder to be treated with great care. On the plane in, flight attendants walked through the cabin, opened the over-head bins and sprayed our luggage with some sort of anti-microbial to protect the fragile eco system from critters we may have brought with us. The effort to conserve and maintain protected breeding spaces for species like tortoises, Darwin’s finches, Blue-Footed Boobies and a range of flora and fauna is obvious and organized. That made the lax attitude toward litter even more puzzling. It was not uncommon to see trash blowing around the streets of the more populated areas, or plastic bags and cans wedged under bushes at tourist arrival points.

Where food and souvenir prices are concerned, the regulatory hand of the Ecuadorian government is always evident. That tiny carved tortoise will run $3 dollars whether you find it at the main airport on Baltra Island or at a shop on Santa Cruz. Prices in the restaurants may vary, but not by much, and are exceedingly inexpensive. And, no matter where we went, the food— including fresh ceviche, lobster, giant prawns and cassava dumplings—was delicious.

Though we could get very close to the wildlife, we respected the admonition not to touch any animals. Human scent can cause an animal to be alienated from its group. That being said, while snorkeling Cristina was practically assaulted by a sea lion determined to play.

“I wasn’t touching him…he was touching me!” she laughed, as we peeled off our wetsuits.

In the end, whatever hiccups we experienced on this adventure were completely overshadowed by the unique beauty of the Galapagos Islands and its myriad creatures. It was far from a flawlessly choreographed Disney Land experience, but that was part of the charm.

“You come here for nature and not luxury,” Louis observed. “I think in that way I wasn’t just ‘not disappointed.’ It far exceeded my expectations.”

It was a sentiment we all shared. This may have been my first adventure to the land made famous by Charles Darwin, but it certainly won’t be my last. EDGE

Editor’s Note: Tetiana Anderson writes for a wide range of newspapers, magazines and web sites and has produced news stories for CBS, CNN and The Weather Channel. She won a New York Press Club Award for her reporting in 2012, and interviewed rap star 50 Cent the last time she contributed to EDGE.

New Jersey’s craft brewery count reaches 36.

There are only two edibles I don’t much like, and those are coffee and beer. Coffee because I’m somewhat allergic to it and beer because, well, I don’t like the taste of it.

There, I said it. That’s how I can relate to people who shun olives or cilantro or broccoli or any of the other foods I personally find essential to happiness. I get I don’t like because I don’t like beer.

Bolero Snort

Then I met Jaret Gelb, the brewer. I love Jaret, and I love Jaret’s passion for brewing; his understanding of the techniques, a merger of art and science; his devotion to his baby, Dark City, the Asbury Park brewery that may well be open by the time you read this. I’ve loved listening to Jaret talk about beer and learning about the network of brewers—most of them in their 20s and 30s—that is behind the 36 functional breweries in the state of New Jersey.

Thirty-six? I ask myself as I talk to Scott Wells, who, along with Bob Olson and Andrew Maiorana, are the principals behind Bolero Snort, the Ridgefield Park-based brewery that has followers who can be described as intelligently fanatical, because Bolero Snort makes top-of-the-world-class beer that beer geeks line up to buy upon release. When did 36 craft breweries happen to New Jersey, birthplace of Ballantine?

Collaboration happened to Wells, Olson and Maiorana at a chance meeting in a Staples that Wells was managing. Olson came in wearing a Bolero Snort shirt.

“I was a craft brew nut and I was planning to go to Bolero Snort’s release party,” Wells said. The next thing Wells knew, he was helping out at Bolero events. Before long, he was saying bye-bye to Staples and on board full-time at Bolero. Brews become blood quickly in this burgeoning world.

Kevin Sharpe, Dark City’s founder and, along with Jaret Gelb, a brewer, talks the family talk when he explains how his baby was born.

Dark City Brewing

“I am very lucky to have a small team of business partners and support staff who I now consider my family,” Sharpe says. Everybody wears many hats, he adds. Everybody likely will continue to be so adorned as the brewery grows.

Spellbound, in Mount Holly, is another brewery the merry bands of brother and sister brewers in New Jersey respect. Who are these guys? Mike Oliver, John Companick and Scott Reading. They like to say they have been “collectively brewing for 50 years.” The Spellbound team focuses on “everyday beers” as well as “extreme styles, like imperial stouts, barley wines and gruits.”

Go to the pilot batch tasting room in Mount Holly to try beers you won’t find anywhere else: Peach Double IPA, Vanilla Maple Porter, Jalepeno Ghost Pepper IPA, White Sage Black Pepper Saison.

Scott Wells and Jaret Gelb touted Spellbound to me, as well as a Fairfield-based brewery called Magnify, which is run by two Eric(h)s: Eric Ruta, founder and president, and Erich Carrle, head brewer.

Dark City Brewing

Please understand, all these guys talk brewing on many levels, not the least of which are: taste, taste, taste, and principles, principles, principles. Magnify, for instance, has four core, year-round beers—Vine Shine IPA, Search Saison, Pale Ale and Black Wheat Ale—but releases “small-batch experimental and innovative beers every four to six weeks.” They keep things interesting.

However, their business model is all about ethics. Magnify self-distributes, so the folks who brew can deal directly with the folks who drink the brews. Magnify is committed to environmental sustainability, employing energy-saving equipment, using recyclable materials, donating spent grain to farmers. Magnify is also about community partnerships and synergy.

Dark City’s Sharpe hammers home the community partnership theme, as well. In fact, Dark City is “actually the nickname for Asbury Park,” he says. “We chose the name to pay tribute to the city’s rich history of periods of downtime followed by rapid revival. The city is currently booming like never before and we love where it is going, but we don’t want to forget where it’s been.

“Asbury has been a hotbed of musical, artistic and culinary inventiveness for most of its history,” Sharpe adds. “Never in history has it housed a brewery, and I wanted to bring that to the community.”

Magnify Brewing

Every beer geek I spoke with talked community on every level. Local isn’t just a buzzword for these folks; it’s religion. Wells, whose technical title at Bolero Snort is sales and events manager, has at his finger tips all the information I need about Bolero’s seasonal program (“We pump out a different beer every month”), as well as the background a neophyte needs to fill gaps (“New Jersey is one of the toughest markets in the U.S.; it was the last market Best Buy went into” and “A contract brewery is one without its own physical plant—it brews by contract elsewhere”), but he also has perspective.

“In New Jersey, we all work to help each other,” Wells says. When Spellbound, for example, celebrates a release, the brother/sisterhood gathers to help. “New Jersey breweries are learning to compete against the national brands—Founders, Dogfish.”

Magnify Brewing

Sharpe agrees: “New Jersey’s brew scene, compared to other states, is relatively young. [However], we have the population to support this growing scene.” Dark City and the other “newcomers to the Jersey scene are lucky…that there are a large number of folks who’ve acquired a taste for craft beer. We owe that to the pioneers [such as] Climax, Flying Fish and River Horse [as well as] the relatively young innovators like Carton and Kane.”

These newcomers take local’s yesterdays, fuse them with local’s today and make dreams come true about local’s tomorrow. I think I’m acquiring a taste for the stuff.

Thanks, Jaret.

Spellbound

BREW CRAWL

Bolero Snort Brewery • bolerosnort.com

65 Railroad Ave. • Ridgefield Park

Dark City Brewing • darkcitybrewing.com 802 2nd Ave. • Asbury Park

Magnify Brewing Co. • magnifybrewing.com 1275 Railroad Ave. • Fairfield

Spellbound Brewing • spellboundbrewing.com 10 Lippincott Lane • Mount Holly

Editor’s Note: Andy Clurfeld has been shouldering the load on restaurant reviews since the second issue of EDGE. During that time, she was a 2010 Pulitzer Prize finalist in Public Service for her work exposing the flaws, injustices and abuses in New Jersey’s property tax system. Andy also has published in-depth reporting on a range of topics, including criminal street gangs, agriculture, politics and the environment. A longtime member of the James Beard Restaurant & Chef Awards Committee, she is a specialist in artisan wines and recently was appointed Wine Director at Buy-Rite Corporation, implementing educational programs, coordinating special events and developing artisan wine sections for select stores.

Photo by WABC Radio

In 1961, a twenty-something  DJ with a warm but booming voice hit the airwaves in New York for WABC and Rock & Roll was never quite the same again. Bruce Morrow, aka Cousin Brucie, played it all during his evening  show, which could be heard for hundreds of miles up and down  the East Coast. Like most radio jocks, Morrow looked for a side  gig to boost his popularity. He  began hosting weekend music shows across the river at Palisades Amusement Park and those raucous concerts drew teenagers from New Jersey, New York and Connecticut like moths to a flame. With a dozen or more acts sharing the stage, the Palisades Park shows soon became a high-powered launching pad for new records, in turn launching Morrow into the industry stratosphere. And there he remains. More than five decades later, thanks to the enduring quality of that era’s music and the loyalty and love of all those screaming baby boomers, he has returned to WABC to spin records on Saturday nights. 

EDGE editor Mark Stewart, whose parents refused  to take him to those legendary shows on the cliffs  of Fort Lee, finally got his chance to connect with  Cousin Brucie.           

WABC Radio

EDGE: Music fans around the country, myself included, know you from your radio career, from WABC to NBC to CBS to Sirius XM and now back to WABC. But a lot of people in New Jersey remember the decade or so you put on those epic weekend Cousin Brucie Rock & Roll shows in the music pavilion at Palisades Amusement Park. Where does that fit into the big picture? 

BM: If you asked me what the most important part of my life is, there are two things I would mention: Palisades Amusement Park and introducing the Beatles at Shea Stadium, as well as my involvement with them. But Palisades Park would be number one. There is a great line about that: Here is where we grew. Here is where we got older. Here is where we learned. It was the happiest time of my life, a time of physically being with my audience. For just about a decade, I hosted and produced the shows and had a wonderful time. It’s really where I discovered what I was going to do for the rest of my life on the air. It was those beautiful live contacts on those beautiful, sometimes rainy Saturdays where I developed Cousin Brucie.  

EDGE: You brought in some huge names there. What was your level of involvement behind the scenes? 

BM: I booked all the acts. I would make a call and, fortunately for me and for Palisades Park, the artists would perform gratis to promote their music. If you made an appearance at Palisades Park, you really were going to sell a lot of records. They knew darn well that, if they appeared with Cousin Brucie, we were going to have a good time, and a profitable time.  

EDGE: A lot of DJs in your era had side gigs to survive. This was something more, though. 

BM: Absolutely. The love of that audience sitting there in that wonderful outdoor “auditorium” was amazing, it was immense, because we were so close to each other—I was always in the audience. And it never ceased. Every week I would have 10, sometimes 15, acts on that stage, including some of the biggest acts in the country. And remember, they lip-synched the music. That was a very important part of the story. In the 1960s, that was okay. Irving Rosenthal, the owner, did not want to spend a lot of money, so we couldn’t afford bands.  

EDGE: And that came off without a hitch? 

Bruce Morrow

BM: The equipment was not the latest, shall we say. The turntable was in a very little booth and the stylus, well, you might as well have had a screwdriver on the record. So every once in a while, records would skip. In 1962, it happened to Tony Bennett and he got pretty upset. I don’t blame him. We broadcasted a lot of our shows live—thank god this wasn’t one of them. Columbia had just come out with his album I Left My Heart In San Francisco and they knew it would ensure quite a number of sales for Tony to perform at the park. So the record starts and he’s lip-synching: I left my heart…in…San Francisco-cisco-cisco-cisco-cisco-cisco-cisco. He was very upset. We finally got him back on and he finished the song and he left in a huff. To this day he has not forgiven me. Four or five years ago he was visiting Sirius XM where I had a show and he left me  a note: “Cousin Brucie, do me a favor and don’t play  my records anymore.” He was just teasing me, but  he never forgot. I never forgot, either. I was terribly embarrassed. It happened a few times, but not often. With most people, they would just go along with it until we fixed it. The audience would applaud and laugh. They knew we were lip-synching.  

EDGE: Were there little-known performers who blew you and the audience away when they appeared? 

Cousin Brucie Friendship Page

BM: Oh, there were so many. Every time a record came out that I liked, I would contact the record company and we’d put them on the stage. One I remember right off the bat was a fellow named Curtis Lee. Like so many performers, Curtis actually introduced his record “Pretty Little Angel Eyes” for the first time on the stage at Palisades Park. It was a good, rocking song. He was introduced by his mentor, Ray Peterson, who sang “Tell Laura I Love Her” and so many other great songs. Ray came out with me on the stage and introduced Curtis Lee as his “protégé” and he performed his song for the New Jersey, New York, Connecticut audience. And it did very well. The record did not skip that day—if it had skipped that would have been terrible because Curtis had no experience. He was scared stiff! 

EDGE: Does one moment stand out from your years at Palisades Amusement Park? 

BM: We had a young lady from Tenafly, about 15 years old named Lesley Gore. She became a very dear friend. We lost her a few years ago, way too young, but her music survives. Lesley came out on stage, she was so tiny and so nervous—this was one of her first times in front of a major audience. She was standing next to me—I was wearing my leopard-skin suit—and she looked up and I could see she was upset, in some kind of pain. That stage, which wasn’t exactly up to date, had some cracks in it. Poor Lesley had caught the heel of her right shoe in one of the cracks. She whispered to me, “Cousin, my shoe is stuck. I can’t move.” I kneeled down, put the microphone on the stage, slipped her foot out of the shoe and pried the heel out of the crack in the board—and put her shoe back on like a princess. Then she went out and did “It’s My Party” and was phenomenal. And she did cry…but because her shoe was stuck. 

EDGE: The return to WABC, which is now a talk station, with your Saturday Night Rock & Roll Party has created a huge amount of buzz. Were you expecting this “reconnection” to have this kind of effect? 

BM: I knew it would be pretty exciting but I had no idea it would be like this. 

EDGE: So I have to ask, when you see fans in their  60s or 70s, is that screaming teenager still in there somewhere? 

BM: Oh, they’re still in there. The emotion and excitement and affection is there no matter how old they are. They want a hug—which unfortunately we can’t do right now. I feel the love and the affinity and the connection. See, connection is a good word here.  I was, and am, a connection to a better time in life.  Oh, we had a lot of problems in those days, but I represent a bridge that is very important today, because everybody wants to go back a little bit, they want to escape this nightmare we’re going through, nightmares that we’ve been going through, for a couple of decades or so. So here is this guy who’s a connection to a good time through something called music. Shakespeare wrote in Twelfth Night, “If music be the food of love, play on.” Well, that’s what I’ve been serving up: energy, spirit and mutual love and respect. I don’t care where you’re from, we have this one thing in common and  it’s music—the music of the 50s, 60s and 70s. It’s an amazing common bond.  

Editor’s Note: Cousin Brucie’s Saturday Night Rock & Roll Party began airing on WABC  in September from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. and can be heard at wabcradio.com and can be streamed on the WABC app. He looks forward to restarting his live oldies concerts at PNC Arts Center in Holmdel once public gatherings are safe for  his fans.  

Fresh out of ways to stay busy at home this winter?  These products will get you thinking outside of the box. 

Growth Spurt 

If you live in New Jersey, finding farmstand-fresh garden herbs and vegetables during the winter months can be an exercise in futility. And a decent tomato? Soul crushing. Which is really all the convincing you should need to check out one of the new artificially intelligent indoor produce-growing devices. We like the Smart Garden 9 by Click & Grow, a company run out of San Francisco (with a second office in Estonia—we don’t know why). It features a professional-caliber grow light and nano-material “smart soil”  that releases nutrients, oxygen and water to as many as nine different plants. The product also comes with little biodomes to fast-track sprouting.   

Image Conscious 

Your phone is filled with great photos. You’ve got boxes of old-school color prints somewhere and, oh yeah, all those albums. Hey, don’t forget the family archives of black-and-white ancestors. What to do with all of these pictures? A number of companies will make blankets, throws and other large decorative products featuring a collage of your most cherished, unforgettable images. Collage.com is a good starting point. It has actually become a competitive business, which is good for you. Pay attention to the quality of fabric you’re ordering—that makes a difference in terms of usability and durability. Done well, these blankets could just be the hit of the holiday gift-giving season. Done poorly, they will embarrass your sensitive teenager for years. In other words, you win either way!  

Scrap Collector 

Every home, it seems, has that one closet shelf piled high with material scraps and random textiles from  the ghosts of projects past, present and future. Well, could there be a better time than now to pull them together into a killer quilt? Coronavirus has pretty much ruled out the quilting-bee option, which means you’re on your own. Before you begin, consider a sewing machine built with quilting specifially in mind. There are a lot of choices at a wide range of price points, starting in the hundreds and creeping into the thousands. One  of the more popular and affordable machines is Brother’s HC1850. It comes pre-programmed with 185 different stitching patterns and a wide table for quilting, plus—and this is important—free access to an actual human to answer quilting questions for  as long as you  own it.  

Be Still My Heart 

Tempting as it may be, day-drinking is never a good idea. But making your own booze anytime is now an option with one of the new-fangled high-tech home stills that are on the market. We’re talking moonshine, of course, a product that has found its way out of the hills and into the suburbs in recent years as a liquor of choice. Among the many food-grade home “hobbyist“ kits on the market is the Stainless Steel Stovetop Still made by How to Moonshine, a Canadian company doing brisk business in the United States. It’s a five-gallon, food-grade piece of equipment that can produce three liters in a couple of hours, and works on a gas burner, induction cooktop or electric hotplate. Yes, it’ll make your kitchen look a little like Walter White’s cook room, but creating your very own batch of firewater to your own particular taste sounds like a lot of fun.     

Tunnel Vision 

Are you one of those Why should I do all the work people? Perhaps one of Wall Colony’s Woodframe Ant Farms is calling your name. These relentless tunnelers create an ever-changing natural landscape and are a  daily reminder of what can be accomplished when  we all work together. The frames come first—in walnut, oak or cherry—and the ant colony follows a few days later after you’ve done a simple set up.     

Where’s the Beef? 

Have you noticed that the quality of meat at your local grocer has improved over these last few months? Where “choice” was often the best choice, now “prime” cuts are showing up—often at choice prices. With so many restaurants either shuttered or working at low capacity, meat purveyors have had to forge new relationships with supermarkets. Who knows how long this will last? One way to take advantage of this fortuitous glitch in the supply chain is to use these prime cuts to make delicious jerky. To do that, you’ll need a machine. Some are big, bulky and expensive. But others are not. Unless you plan on opening a side hustle, then the Nesco Snackmaker Pro will do just fine. It’s technically a dehydrator, which means you can use it for fruits and vegetables if you like, but jerky aficionados give it solid reviews. You’d be surprised how many closet jerky lovers there are out there, and with retail prices soaring for even the most modest portions, you may want to increase production once friends and family find out what you’re up to. This model is actually expandable, so no problem there.