By Judy O’Gorman Alvarez
RED BANK – It took countless hours of researching archives, interviewing residents and tapping memories to create the book “Legendary Locals of Red Bank,” published in February by Arcadia Publishing.
But for author and newswoman Eileen Moon, the book was an opportunity to tell the stories of several people of Red Bank – the notable and the unsung – who made their mark on the town.
Moon, an Atlantic Highlands resident, will be signing her book from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 30, at Sickles market, 1 Harrison Ave. in Little Silver.
A former managing editor of ***ITALThe Two River Times,***END Moon has spent more than 30 years as a reporter, feature writer and editor for various magazines and newspapers.
“At ***ITALThe Two River Times***END I had the privilege to meet great people who make and are making a difference in their community,” said Moon, who wanted to celebrate some of the people she had been writing about for years.
She also wanted “to give life to the people who may be just names in the news to readers.”
Moon believes that “people have amazing stories” – from the famous and accomplished to the “average guy on the street.”
She chronicles the lives of residents, like notables Sigmund Eisner, a Jewish emigrant from Austria, who built a clothing manufacturing empire making U.S. soldiers’ uniforms, and Elizabeth Clare Prophet, the New Age minister and author whose father was U-Boat captain uncomfortable with the Nazis. He emigrated to the U.S. only to become a suspect during World War II.
“And, there was Dr. (James) Parker on the west side who treated everyone and was loved by everybody,” she said.
Red Bank Mayor Pasquale Menna was an example of the citizen Moon wanted to portray. The Italian native arrived in Red Bank, the son of a factory worker and a seamstress.
“He didn’t speak any English as a child, went to Red Bank schools, became an attorney and now the mayor.”
Moon said she “wanted to illustrate” her subjects so that a reader “will see a familiar face and learn something they didn’t know.
“There were a lot of surprises for me,” Moon said. She cites as an example “Handing Down Old Glory,” the war memorial on Monmouth Street. The top figure shows Henry M. Nevius, a Red Bank native who was repeatedly honored for heroism during the Civil War.
“All that time I went to St. James and RBC (Red Bank Catholic), just a half block away, and never knew the guy on top was a real man (from Red Bank). No one ever mentioned it.”
Moon said she also wanted to “celebrate journalism” and journalists such as Art Kamin and Doris Kulman. They were the “people who helped (readers) understand and make sense of what was happening in the community.”
She calls that kind of journalism “honorable.”
It was “before journalism became entertainment,” said Moon, who now is an external affairs officer for FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency), writing about Sandy-recovery efforts. She also is a freelance writer with a few book projects in the works.
“There are plenty more stories to tell,” she said.
Moon hopes to impress on readers that “whatever they do in their jobs, as a volunteer, teacher, friend or entertainer … it has an impact on what goes on in the community for centuries.”
