The Gilded Age, Preserved: The Mansions of Somerset Hills Setting the Record Straight on Modigliani The Nj Audubon Montclair Hawk Watch Genetic Testing for Breast Cancer The Promise of “Living Drugs� Profiles in Healthcare Destination: Clinton
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CONTENTS
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The Gilded Age, Preserved: The Mansions of Somerset Hil ls BY I LENE DUBE
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Reality vs Reputation: Setting the Record Straight on Modigliani BY ELLEN GI LBERT
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Profiles in Healthcare IN TERVI EWS BY TAYLOR SMI TH
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Genetic Testing for Breast Cancer: Advances Bring New Chal lenges BY ANNE LEVI N
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The Promise of “Living Drugs” BY ELLEN GI LBERT
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Soaring B eauty: The NJ Audubon Montclair Hawk Watch BY LAUR I E PELLI CHER O
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Urban B ooks: Homes That Make Statements
FALL 2017
BY STUART MI TCHNER
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Destination: Clinton BY WI LLI AM UHL
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Urban Pantry 47
Calendar
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Urban Shops: A Wel l-Designed Life 18, 20
Winter Is Coming...
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Al l Hal lows’ Eve 52
On the Cover: Mansion in May 2017 at Alnwick Hall–The Abbey in Morris Township, NJ. Photography by Wing Wong/Memories TTL.
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Blairsden, Women’s Association of Morristown Medical Center—Mansion in May Designer Showhouse 2014. Photography courtesy of Turpin Real Estate, Inc.
The Gilded Age, Preserved: The Mansions of Somerset Hills
by ilene dube
In the decades following the Civil War, the United States experienced a period of tremendous economic growth. The railroad industry, mining, and finance gave new wealth to those who built them. andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, andrew Mellon, J.P Morgan, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Henry flagler, and others—the robber barons—built the core of the american industrial economy, as well as the nonprofit sector through their generous philanthropy, on the backs of the working class.
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Blairsden, Women’s Association of Morristown Medical Center—Mansion in May Designer Showhouse 2014. Photography by Wing Wong/Memories TTL.
T
he captains of industry spent lavishly on the accoutrements of beauty of the Somerset Hills and decided to build one of the largest the aristocratic life, including large country houses in one or estates in the region. Blair was a grandson of John Insley Blair, the mining more of the exclusive “colonies”: Newport, Rhode Island; Bar and railroad baron who founded Blair Academy and was a significant Harbor, Maine; Lenox, Massachusetts; the Main Line outside donor to Princeton University (Blair Hall is named for him), C. Ledyard’s Philadelphia; the Hudson River Valley of New York; and the alma mater. The elder Blair was worth $70 million at his death, at age 97, Somerset Hills of the Garden State. in 1899. The great country estates were, by design, examples of Both grandfather and grandson founded the investment banking conspicuous consumption and the pursuit of leisure, a blatant statement company Blair & Company. C. Ledyard also served as governor of the of the owner’s social standing, New York Stock Exchange, a according to historian W. Barry director of Lackawanna Steel and Thomson, co-author with the late the Green Bay & Western Railroad, John K. Turpin of New Jersey and was both commodore and vice Country Houses: The Somerset commodore of the New York Yacht Hills, Vol. 1 and 2. Some of the most Club. It took four years to build the prominent and influential architects 62,000-square-foot, 38-room Louis and landscape designers were XIII-style estate. commissioned to create opulent Before construction, a mountain estates in park-like settings. top had to be sheared off the site, Somerset Hills, in Somerset making way for the man-made County, includes the towns of Ravine Lake, a rower’s paradise. Bedminster, Basking Ridge/ Completed in 1903, 12 large busts Bernards Township, Bernardsville, of Roman emperors lined the 300Far Hills, and Peapack-Gladstone. foot reflecting pool, which became One of the crown jewels in the home to swans Elsa and Lohengrin. Mansions of Somerset Hills is The coach barn and stables cost Blairsden, considered one of $30,000 to build, and the barn had the finest examples of Beauxan elevator to the second floor. Arts architecture in the United A funicular was constructed up States. Blairsden was designed by the steep incline behind the house architects Carrère and Hastings, to bring materials up the mountain. View of house past terrace gardens, ca. 1903. Courtesy of Wikipedia. proteges of the McKim, Mead and Blairsden had electrical service, White firm, who went off on their elevators, a steel structure, concrete own to design Flagler hotels, the New York Public Library, the Metropolitan floors, and the latest heating and cooling technologies. Every Thursday, Opera House interior, New York’s Grand Army Plaza, and the Henry Clay according to the Historical Society of the Somerset Hills, a “clock man” Frick Mansion (today home to the Frick Collection), among many others. would come all the way from New York to wind all the clocks. Thomson, who frequently lectures on these country estates, grew The main driveway was more than a mile long, and the entrance doors up on the property adjoining Blairsden, named for C. Ledyard Blair, a were made of bronze with one-inch thick plate glass windows each weighing prominent investment banker and ambitious entrepreneur who saw the more than 1,000 pounds. Each of the 25 fireplaces had a unique mantel.
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Blairsden, Women’s Association of Morristown Medical Center—Mansion in May Designer Showhouse 2014. Photography courtesy of Turpin Real Estate, Inc.
To create the instant look of a mature landscape, 75 full-grown trees up to 60-feet tall were moved to the site by wagons pulled by teams of horses. More than 1,400 types of roses were planted in the garden. Blair and his wife, Florence Osborne Jennings, had four daughters, all of whom had wedding ceremonies or receptions at Blairsden, with private trains transporting guests from New York City. Poor Little Peppina, starring United Artists cofounder and “America’s Sweetheart” actress/producer Mary Pickford, was filmed at Blairsden in 1915 (released in 1916). The movie depicts the outdoor grandeur and impeccable gardens of renowned landscape architect James Leal Greenleaf. Along with the firm of Frederick Law Olmsted (the “Father of American Landscape Architecture,” who designed New York’s Central and Prospect parks, among many others), Greenleaf worked on the James “Buck” Duke estate in Hillsborough (today, Duke Farms), and the Lincoln Memorial landscape in Washington, D.C. In addition to Blairsden’s gardens, there were tennis courts, a boathouse, a squash court, horse trails, a horse track, and trap shooting range with its own lodge, and an indoor Turkish bath in the basement (“the plunge”). But with all the lavish entertaining, it was just a country house. C. Ledyard Blair also commissioned Carrère and Hastings to design his New York townhouse at Fifth Avenue and 70th Street. For his Bermuda estate, he commissioned the team to design a boathouse. By November of 1929, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped from 400 to 145. The stock market crash deeply impacted Blair and the entire Somerset Hills community. Blair died at 82 in 1949, and a year later Blairsden and 50 acres of property were sold for an estimated $65,000 to the Sisters of St. John the Baptist, who renamed the property St. Josephs Villa and began operating it as a religious retreat. That’s where Thomson comes in. His parents bought a section of the property for their home, and that’s where he grew up. “There had been more than 500 acres in total,” he recollects. “Blair descendants and other private owners bought up the land.” Thomson
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remembers visiting the mansion when it was owned by the sisters when he was 4 or 5. “I remember walking down a central hallway holding my mother’s hand. The high ceilings and stone walls made a lasting impression—the sheer scale. As I grew older and became adventurous, I would clamber through the woods around the mansion. I was fascinated— how could you not be? It’s so impressive the way it sits on top of the hill with a lake.” In the 1990s, when the Sisters of St. John the Baptist “were growing older and their ranks were dwindling,” recounts Thomson, they decided to sell Blairsden. A group of architects, landscape architects, architectural historians and others, spearheaded by Thomson, formed the nonprofit Blairsden Association with the intention of raising the funds necessary to acquire and restore the property and make it accessible to the public. Although more than $4 million in public and private funds were pledged to the Blairsden Association for the project, they were outbid in 2002 when the Sisters sold the property to the Foundation for Classical Architecture. Many hoped the Foundation would turn it into a museum. After some restoration work on the house and grounds, the Foundation sold the estate to a private owner in 2012 for $4.5 million. Present owner T. Eric Galloway is a New York developer and president of the Lantern Organization who has been described by one of his staff members as “a collector of buildings who prefers to stay out of the limelight.” In 2014, the house was opened to the public for the first time for the biennial fundraiser of the Women’s Association of Morristown Medical Center—the Mansion in May Designer Showhouse. More than 33,000 visitors viewed the home and gardens after decorators and designers did extensive work to patch up the disrepair. Alnwick Hall in Morristown is one of many elaborate houses that once stood along the stretch of Madison Avenue known as Millionaires’ Row. This survivor of the Gilded Age was built for Edward P. Meany (1854-1938), New Jersey judge advocate general and director of American Telephone & Telegraph Company, and his wife Rosaline. The architect was Percy Griffin, who also designed the Jefferson Davis Monument in Richmond, Virginia.
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Mansion in May 2017. Kitchen at Alnwick Hall-The Abbey/Designer: Cabri Inc. Photography by Wing Wong/Memories TTL.
Mansion in May 2017 at Alnwick Hall–The Abbey in Morris Township, NJ. Photography by Wing Wong/Memories TTL.
Mansion in May 2017. L’Abbey en Rose Bedroom at Alnwick Hall–The Abbey/Designer: Samuel Ciardi. Photography by Wing Wong/Memories TTL.
Mansion in May 2017 at Alnwick Hall–The Abbey in Morris Township, NJ. Photography by Wing Wong/Memories TTL.
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Aerial photograph of Natirar site, photography courtesy of Eric Mower + Associates. The Meanys based their 1904 home on the design of Alnwick Castle in Northumberland, England. From 1961 to 1984 the structure served as Saint Mark’s Lutheran Church. Until recently it was an office building known as The Abbey. With leaded and stained glass windows galore, the Abbey returned to prominence as host of this year’s Mansions in May fundraiser for the Women’s Association of Morristown Medical Center. Alnwick Hall was completely restored to its former grandeur by many area designers for the event, beautifying 41 rooms and many gardens. The ballroom alone, where the Meanys were said to entertain lavishly, could accommodate 200 people. Now that Mansions in May is over, the future of this landmark is in jeopardy. Plans for a townhouse complex are pending zoning commission review. A “Save the Abbey” campaign has been created to prevent it from being demolished. Among the other Mansions of Somerset Hills is Stronghold, in Bernardsville. Stronghold was designed by George B. Post, architect of the New York Stock Exchange, who purchased 104 acres on Bernardsville Mountain in 1871 with visions of replicating the rolling estates of English lords. Banker James Coleman Drayton bought a portion from Post, and hired him to build a stone villa featuring a four-story tower. The next owner added a classical semicircular terrace (the “Solarium”) with Corinthian columns and a staircase flanked by rhino statues. In 1940 it was turned into a girls’ boarding school, but by 1995 it had once again become a private residence. Built in 1886, the stone mansion was restored and renovated to blend its traditional grandeur with a modern spirit by fashion designer Marc Ecko, who bought it for $5 million in 2005 and pumped $23 million into it. Stronghold was listed for sale beginning in 2012 for $27 million— the New York Post headlined its story “Estate of Ecko a $$Wrecko.” Still on the market, Stronghold’s value is estimated by Zillow at $4 million. Natirar was created by Walter Graeme Ladd and his wife, Catherine Everit Macy Ladd, choosing the name based on the backward spelling of Raritan, the river that flows through the property. The estate includes 22 buildings, six wells, three bridges, three streams, a pond, woodlands, and the 33,000-square-foot mansion designed by Guy Lowell and Henry Hardenbergh, architects of New York’s Plaza and Waldorf hotels, the
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Dakota, Manhattan Courthouse, buildings on the Harvard University campus, and the Boston Museum of Fine Art. Catherine was an heiress to a whaling, oil, and shipping fortune; her father’s business partner was John D. Rockefeller. Ladd was an entrepreneur and attorney to Rockefeller. They married in 1883 and rented property in Bernardsville as they acquired small local farmsteads until their estate spread over 1,000 acres throughout Peapack-Gladstone, Far Hills, and Bedminster. Morocco’s King Hassan II bought the property from the Ladd Estate in 1983 but never permanently lived there. Somerset County bought Natirar in 2003 for $22 million and turned it into a park. The property features extensive areas of lawn and woodland, river access, and scenic views and contains historic farm buildings and various other residential structures and outbuildings dating from the mid-18th through mid-19th centuries. The Mansions of Somerset Hills were built for another era. Do they have a place in the world today? “Some were torn down after World War II because they were too hard to maintain,” says Thomson. In addition to maintenance—they required an enormous staff of groundskeepers, housekeepers, stable groomsmen, and others—taxes were astronomical. If the house wasn’t razed in its entirety, wings might have been torn off. “Some of the buildings became schools or church-related,” says Thomson. “Stronghold became a private girls’ school but is now back in private ownership, just as with Blairsden. It’s interesting to see how they come full circle. And what is today the USGA Golf Museum in Bernards Township was built in 1919 for Thomas Frothingham as the Dogwood Estate.” But living like a tycoon, surrounded by grandeur, never could assure happiness. According to the Historical Society website, after a failed suicide attempt, a divorce from his wife, and moving to Mexico to avoid bankruptcy prosecution, Frothingham died in Mexico. Thomson remains firmly committed to preservation. “These buildings reflect an important era of architectural, landscape, and cultural history, and reflect a different way of life,” he says. “They were built and designed by the most noted architects and landscape architects of the day. The architecture is culturally important to the history of the early 20th century. And environmentally it’s good that they remain intact and preserve open space.”
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(LEFT) Historic photo of Natirar, ( BELOW ) Natirar restored. Photography courtesy of Eric Mower + Associates.
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Amedeo Modigliani, Lunia Czechowska, 1919. Oil on canvas. Museu de Arte de São Paulo. Photograph by João Musa.
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Reality vs Reputation Setting the Record Straight on Modigliani by EllEn GilbErt
“The exquisite-looking artist was often overshadowed by his Bohemian legend,” observed Jewish Museum Senior Curator Mason Klein at a recent press preview of the new Modigliani exhibit, “Modigliani Unmasked,” at the Jewish Museum in New York City through february 4, 2018. Images of amedeo Modigliani’s movie star quality looks and accounts of his tempestuous and brief (1884-1920) life have indeed tended to overshadow his accomplishments, though sales of his later paintings in recent years do not seem troubled by these considerations: his Nu Couché fetched a whopping $170.4 million (with fees) at a Christie’s auction in 2015.
Amedeo Modigliani, Hermaphrodite Caryatid, 1911-12. Black crayon on paper. Paul Alexandre Family, courtesy of Richard Nathanson, London. Image provided by Richard Nathanson, photographed by Prudence Cuming Associates, London.
Amedeo Modigliani, Head, c. 1911. Black crayon on paper. Musée des Beaux-Arts, Rouen, Gift of Blaise Alexandre, 2001.
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Amedeo Modigliani, Woman in Profile, 1911-12. Charcoal and pastel on paper. Museum of Modern Art, New York. The Joan and Lester Avnet Collection. Image provided by The Museum of Modern Art / Licensed by SCALA / Art Resource, New York
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In
the Jewish Museum’s new exhibit of early drawings The exhibition catalogue, published by the Jewish Museum and Yale and sculptures by Modigliani, Klein and his colleagues University Press, includes a compelling essay by Klein showing how close demonstrate how awareness of his background as a wellanalysis of Modigliani’s portraits and figure studies in pencil, ink, gouache, and educated Italian Sephardic Jew crayon reflect the artist’s “modernist embrace of who arrived in a Paris riven difference, as well as an understanding of identity by anti-semitism is pivotal as heterogeneous, beyond national or cultural to understanding his work. boundaries.” Collected by Modigliani’s first patron and good friend Dr. Paul Alexandre, many of the works are being SpecIal eventS shown in the U.S. for the first time. The Jewish Museum exhibition consists of A streaming audiotape for the exhibit is available and approximately 150 works, including those from several special events are scheduled at the Museum: the Alexandre collection as well as a selection of “Tracing Modigliani” on Wednesday, October Modigliani’s paintings, sculptures, and other drawings 25 at 2pm will give participants, under the guidance from collections around the world. Modigliani’s own of Museum educators, an opportunity to create a art is set against representative works of African, portfolio inspired by Modigliani’s drawings and Greek, Egyptian, and Khmer origin that inspired the original source material. young artist. At one point he stopped painting in Mason Klein will be the featured speaker at order to develop his conceptual and pictorial ideas this year’s Salo W. Baron program (named for the through drawing and sculpture. preeminent scholar of Jewish History) on Thursday, Among the works featured are an unfinished October 26, at 6:30pm where he will continue his portrait of Dr. Alexandre, never seen before in the discussion of “how Modigliani’s work was influenced U.S.; impressions of the theater; life studies and by the cultural melting pot of 20th-century Paris.” female nudes, among them the Russian poet Anna Modern and ancient instruments incorporating Akhmatova; and drawings of caryatids and heads, the sounds of jazz, folk, Middle Eastern, and Latin which are telling of Modigliani’s sculptures, created music in an exploration of lost and forgotten over a five-year period from 1909 to 1914. Sephardic melodies will be explored in “Bang on a “Modigliani was the embodiment of cultural Can: Performance by La Mar Enfortuna” on Thursday, heterogeneity,” suggests the exhibit’s press release. November 9, at 7:30pm. In his native Italy he was never ostracized as a Jew, and although his dark complexion and fluency in French would have made it easy for him to assimilate earlIer exhIbItS in Paris, he chose to cling to his outsider status, often introducing himself by saying, “My name is Amedeo Modigliani, Study for “The Amazon,” 1909. Black This is not the Jewish Museum’s first foray into Modigliani. I am Jewish.” His Nietzschean-informed crayon on paper. Paul Alexandre Family, courtesy of Modigliani’s work. Earlier exhibitions that included notions about the superiority of artists also colored Richard Nathanson, London. Image provided by Richard Nathanson, photographed by Prudence Cuming Associates, his more familiar portraits (the ones with elongated his behavior. London.
Amedeo Modigliani, Unfinished Portrait of Paul Alexandre, 1913. Oil on canvas. Private collection on long-term loan to the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Rouen.
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Amedeo Modigliani, Head of a Woman, 1910-11. Limestone. National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, Chester Dale Collection. fall 2017
(left) Amedeo Modigliani, Portrait of a Woman Taking Part in a Spiritualist Séance, c. 1906. Black crayon, China ink, and watercolor on paper. Musée des Beaux-Arts, Rouen, Gift of Blaise Alexandre, 2001. Amedeo Modigliani, Caryatid, 1914. Gouache and ink on paper. Museum of Modern Art, New York. Bequest of Mrs. Harriet H. Jonas. Image provided by The Museum of Modern Art / Licensed by SCALA / Art Resource, New York.
features) did not generate universal veneration. Writing about one exhibit in 2004, The Guardian art critic Robert Hughes declared that “If there’s one thing his show at New York’s Jewish Museum suggests, it’s that Amedeo Modigliani was probably never going to turn into a really great 20th-century artist.” Hughes was of the sickly, hard-living, attention-getting perception of Modigliani: his ability as an artist “hardly mattered from the point of view of his popularity, which is enduring and close to obsessive—not rivaling Van Gogh’s, of course, but cut from the same kind of material. The art audience loves a miserable loser who, after death, succeeds in a big way,” he wrote. “Not a fan,” Klein quietly said of Hughes when recently reminded of this article. A 2004 biopic starring Andy Garcia that purported to tell the story of “Modigliani’s bitter rivalry with Pablo Picasso” earned an abysmal four percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. “The best and maybe the only use to be made of the catastrophic screen biography of Modigliani is to serve as a textbook outline of how not to film the life of a legendary artist,” wrote New York Times critic Stephen Holden. Picasso biographer John Richardson gives the lie to the notion of a “bitter rivalry” between the two artists, noting that while Modigliani did not embrace the same styles as Picasso, “....Picasso had come to like Modigliani and his work well enough to acquire a major painting... and to sit him for a portrait more than once.” It was Modigliani’s addictions to drugs and alcohol that offended Picasso, Richardson says. Biographies of Modigliani have not fared particularly well, either. “It shouldn’t be possible to write a dull life of Amedeo Modigliani, but [Jeffrey] Meyers manages the task,” said Kirkus Review of Meyers’s 2006 book. This reader was struck by Meyers’s awe at Modigliani’s fascination with the presciently surrealistic Les Chants de Maldoror, written in 1869 by Comte de Lautréamont (pseudonym of the Uruguayan-born French poet Isidore-Lucien Ducasse). Meyers wonders “how this repellent fantasy attracted readers as sensitive and intelligent as Modigliani and [Andre] Gide.” What is hard to imagine is Meyers’s
curious notion that that radical art would not be recognized by others. Meryle Secrest’s 2011 treatment of Modigliani’s life, which suggests that his flamboyant, brief life was more a result of his chronic tuberculosis and longstanding sense of doom, received a respectful review from art critic Holland Cotter, who appreciated the book’s “extended accounts of people, places, and events surrounding Modigliani.” Sue Roe also captures the ambience of the time in In Montmartre: Picasso, Matisse and Modernism in Paris 1900-1910.
Respect at the end Modigliani’s work did not realize great sums of money in his lifetime; he originally asked his friend Jacques Lipchitz for ten francs for the painting he did of Lipchitz and his wife, Bertha. Thanks to exhibitions like this, our appreciation for the complexity of his work can only grow. It is good to know, though, that he was already recognized when he died. “It turns out that Modigliani did not fit the bohemian myth to the end, by dying unloved and unappreciated,” wrote critic Michael Kimmelman in 2004. “There was an enormous funeral procession for him to Père-Lachaise. Policemen who had arrested him over and over took off their hats as his flower-draped coffin passed. A rabbi said prayers over the grave. Many artists paid their respects: Picasso, Brancusi, Chaim Soutine, Fernand Léger, Gino Severini, Maurice Utrillo, André Derain, and Jacques Lipchitz.” It was Modigliani’s Jewish compatriot Lipchitz who retrieved two other artists’ failed attempt to produce a death mask for Modigliani from the garbage; his moving result appears in this exhibit. The Jewish Museum is located at 1109 Fifth Avenue at 92nd Street. For more about the exhibit, call 212.423.3200 or visit www.thejewishmuseum.org.
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HOMES That Make Statements by Stuart Mitchner
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Scott Fitzgerald’s famous line, “The very rich are different from you and me,” in his story “The Rich Boy,” inspired Ernest Hemingway’s sarcastic retort in “The Snows of Kilimanjaro, “Yes, they have more money.” In The Language of Houses: How Buildings Speak to Us (Delphinium $25.95), novelist Alison Lurie begins by stating “A building is an inanimate object, but it is not an inarticulate one. Even the simplest house always makes a statement, one expressed in brick and stone and plaster, in wood and metal and glass, rather than in words— but no less loud and obvious.” The homes built by the very rich make statements expressing what makes them “different from you and me.” Whatever your definition of “different” may be, people of means are likely to have larger, more elegant homes as well as enough wealth to maintain the allure of affluence after transitioning to smaller living spaces. In effect this is the theme of Leslie Linsley’s Upscale Downsizing: Creating a Stylish, Elegant, Smaller Home (Sterling $24.95), published this month. In Linsley’s introduction, she liberates the term “upscale” by pointing out that “downsizing doesn’t have to mean living in a humble abode, especially if the person, couple, or family has spent a lifetime accumulating lovely things or has a sense of style.” Her synonym of choice for downsizing is “editing,” as if a home were a book, every room a chapter. Referring to one of the primary elements of remodeling, the choice of paint color, Linsley notes that “interior designers who once favored beige and various shades of white are suddenly opting for gray.” One of her favorite shades is “Down Pipe,” from Farrow & Ball, “an upscale British paint and wallpaper company. When used on all four walls, this gray provides a rich contemporary atmosphere to a room and creates a mysteriously moody interior.” The author of over sixty books on crafts, decorating, and home-style, Linsley has written for House Beautiful, Elle Decor, Martha Stewart Living, and O.
DREAM HOMES Will Jones’s lavishly illustrated The New Modern House (Princeton Architectural Press $40) features forty new houses organized around five themes—conditions,
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materials, environment, budget, and aesthetic. Upscale is definitely the word for Paris-based architect Barclay & Crousse’s Casa Equis in Peru, “an architectural oasis” chosen for the book’s cover image. “A dream home for the new millennium,” in Jones’s words, Casa Equis stands atop a cliff above the Pacific Ocean as if “hewn out of its setting.” This Peruvian vision is only the beginning of a journey that includes Rafael Viñoly’s Piano House in The Hamptons, created in the architect’s back garden; Edge Design’s Suitcase House overlooking The Great Wall of China in the Nanguo Valley near Beijing; Sean Griffith’s Blue House in London, “a clarion call for the Post-Modern revival”; and houses in San Francisco and Los Angeles, Singapore, and Melbourne, among a variety of locales worldwide. London-based Will Jones’s articles have appeared in RIBA Journal, Financial Times, Blueprint, and Dwell.
ARCHITECTURAL AFFINITIES Published this month, also from Princeton Architectural Press, is Northern Exposure: Works of Carol A Wilson Architect ($50). In the foreword to this intimate portrait of eight houses by the Maine architect, Enrico Pinna recalls meeting Wilson at the Casa das Canoas in Rio de Janeiro, a home that Oscar Niemeyer had designed and built for himself. Pinna describes the professional rapport he felt with Wilson in relation to Goethe’s novel, Elective Affinities: “Such natures when they come in contact, at once lay hold of each other, and mutually affect one another.” Focusing on climate, seasons, views, local materials, the ecological history of building sites, and collaborations with local artisans, Wilson crafts “exquisitely designed and built houses that celebrate the beauty of New England and the power of architecture to combine modern forms with a traditional built landscape.” Following introductory texts by Pinna and Juhani Pallasmaa, and a conversation between Wilson and John Leroux, each project opens with a foldout of plans, from hand-drawn to computer-aided, along with information about the house, followed by brilliant exterior, interior, and detail photographs. The book closes with an interview in 20 questions about Wilson’s working principles and the history of her studio for the past 30 years. Principal of Carol A. Wilson Architect, Wilson is based in Falmouth, Maine. Her modern and environmentally responsive buildings have been honored with
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numerous design awards and published extensively. She has taught at the University of New Mexico, Montana State University, Bowdoin College’s Coastal Studies Center, Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar, and Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design.
THE LANGUAGE OF ARCHITECTURE In Designing Your Perfect House (Dalsiner $39.95), updated in August 2017 with a “Green Building” supplement, William J. Hirsch Jr. emphasizes a link between spoken language and the three-dimensional vocabulary of architecture. “Composed together in architectural sentences, the rooms (nouns), doors and windows (verbs), details of space (adjectives and adverbs), and the special features and accents (interjections) become the prose of architecture.” Hirsch goes on to point out that while some architectural sentences are flat or showy, those that benefit from a constructive accord between builder and client achieve a quality comparable to literature. Swiss-born British author Alain de Botton, quoted by Lurie in The Language of Houses, says “The buildings we admire are ultimately those which ... refer, whether through their materials, shapes or color, to such legendarily positive qualities as friendliness, kindness, subtlety, strength, and intelligence.”
ON RELATED SUBJECTS Popular titles in this area include Charlie Wing’s The Visual Handbook of Building and Remodeling, 3rd Edition (Taunton $29.95); Susan Lang’s Designing Your Dream Home: Every Question to Ask, Every Detail to Consider, and Everything to Know Before You Build or Remodel (Thomas Nelson $24.99); Amy Johnston’s What Your Contractor Can’t Tell You: The Essential Guide to Building and Renovating (Shube $24.95); and Michael Litchfield’s Renovation 4th Edition: Completely Revised and Updated (Taunton Press $50), which Library Journal calls “a masterpiece” and This Old House says is “Hands down, the best home renovation book...written in a down-to-earth conversational style that’s comprehensive, practical, and easy to understand.”
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profiles in healthcare
Q&A with Dr. Michelle O’Shea of Hackensack Meridian Health Mountainside Medical Center
Please explain Breathbag testing for breast cancer. The Breathbag study to predict presence of breast cancer in patients was begun by the late Dr. Jan Huston at Mountainside Medical Center. It is technology developed by Dr. Michael Phillips and Menssana Research Inc. to use breath screening as an initial test for women to then determine who would move on to a screening mammogram. A woman simply exhales into a mylar-type balloon and then her breath is analyzed for special Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). A preliminary study, which included collecting the breath of volunteers at Mountainside Medical Center among other sites in the country, showed the analysis correctly identified patients without breast cancer with an accuracy of 99.9 percent. We will soon be collecting breath samples from volunteers who are having screening mammograms in the next study, which is now funded by the NIH (National Institutes of Health).
By Taylor Smith
Describe your background and current specialty. I am a board-certified general surgeon specializing in evidenced-based breast care. I was born and raised in Sussex County, N.J. I graduated from UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School in Newark, and completed my residency in general surgery at Saint Barnabas in 2001. After residency I joined Dr. Jan Huston at Summit Breast Care, which joined Mountainside Medical Group in 2016. My achievements include recognition as NJ Top Doctor and Patients’ Choice Compassionate Doctor, 2015; the Project Self-Sufficiency Mosaic Award; and being named 2016 College of St. Elizabeth Distinguished Alumna. What is evidenced-based breast care and why is it significant? Evidence-based care involves making clinical decisions for patients based on the information we haveto-date as to the actual outcomes of that treatment, and not simply following common patterns. It prevents unnecessary testing for the patient. For example, while many patients believe removing a breast is the best treatment for breast cancer, the combination of lumpectomy with radiation actually offers a survival benefit that mastectomy does not.
Discuss the recent advances in genetic testing for breast cancer. Fortunately, as a result of better guidelines for testing, more insurances are covering genetic testing for inherited breast cancer. The two most well-known genes are the BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations which give a woman a 60-80 percent lifetime risk of breast cancer and a 20-40 percent risk of ovarian cancer. Not everyone should be tested, however, as these genes only account for five percent of all breast cancers and in the average population are only found in one in 1,000 people. A gene mutation can be inherited from either the mother or father. At Mountainside Medical Center, we have a Genetic Counselor available. Through genetic counseling, family history can be used to guide testing for other inherited cancers.
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PROFILES IN HEALTHCARE
Q&A with Dr. Vanessa Parisi of Hackensack Meridian Health Mountainside Medical Group By Taylor Smith
Describe your background and current specialty. I am a graduate of the obstetrics and gynecology residency program at Saint Barnabas Medical Center (SBMC) in Livingston, New Jersey. While at SBMC, I served as administrative co-chief resident and am the incoming District III junior fellow chair of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, participating in community service, advocacy, and education of young physicians. I was born and raised in New York prior to moving to New Jersey for residency. I am a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, so I have training in basic manipulation in addition to traditional medical practice. I am a graduate and former Global Health Academic Medicine Scholar from the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine. While in medical school, I concomitantly earned my master’s degree in neuromusculoskeletal sciences from New York Institute of Technology and my master’s degree in public health from A.T. Still University’s School of Health Management. I am active in my community, political action, and global health. I enjoy experiential learning and teaching, particularly through simulation. I enjoy delivering babies and operating, including minimally invasive procedures. I spend my free time volunteering, traveling, watching sports, and with my friends and family. I am very excited to join Mountainside Medical Group. What types of gynecologic services does Mountainside Medical Group offer? I perform well-woman gynecological care (i.e. annual exams, PAP smears, STI testing, contraception, and pre-conception counseling). I see women of all ages, including pre-teens as young as 12 years old. I also perform minor procedures in the office including but not limited to: IUD placement and removal, endometrial biopsies, sonohysterograms, ultrasound, colposcopy, cryosurgery, and basic incisions and drainage. In the operating room. I perform a plethora of pelvic surgical procedures, both minor, major, and minimally invasive.
Talk about some of the unique features of the Mountainside Medical Center Maternity Unit. Our newly-renovated Maternity Unit offers amenities for new moms and dads that include hotel-quality rooms with sleeper chairs, flat screen TVs, wireless Internet, and spa-inspired baths. We offer special features like mobile telemetry, allowing expectant mothers to move around freely during early stages of labor. We also have a newly-installed labor tub for laboring mothers, which is used for warm water emersion therapy and pain management. We also have a top-notch lactation program for new mothers who choose to breastfeed, staffed by certified lactation consultants. Our nursery includes a level II special care nursery, staffed 24/7 with board-certified neonatologists. Mountainside Medical Center’s Maternity Unit is also unique in that we are early adopters of the OB/GYN hospitalists model—on staff physicians and physician assistants that partner with the patient’s affiliated OB/GYNs or midwives. This approach is known to improve patient safety. These hospitalbased OB/GYNs are available 24/7 and can provide emergency care, routine oversight, and assistance with affiliated OB/GYN or midwives deliveries, among other responsibilities. Describe the importance of preventative gynecologic care for women of all ages. Prevention and patient-centered care should be the focus of all medical providers. First and foremost, education is the most important element. In my short time of practice, I have realized how little women know about their bodies and their personal health. Whether they are taking care of their families or are developing themselves professionally, some women put off key signs of illness which should not be ignored. I always try to educate my patients on the nature of their condition, rather than use medical jargon, treat them, and send them on their way. I try to engage my patients. I am open to questions and encourage the patients to advocate for themselves. I encourage women to practice safe sex and attend their well-woman exams and testing as directed. In this country, most of us have the luxury of access to so many life-saving and preventive resources, and we should take advantage of them. I’ve seen firsthand where women have suffered from a serious illness which could have been prevented had they just gone for their mammogram or their well-woman visit. I want to establish the doctor-patient relationship and have my patient’s entrust their wellbeing with me, while also taking responsibility and advocating for themselves. I think this will drastically improve quality of life, productivity, and overall health of our society’s women.
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GENETIC TESTING
FOR BREAST CANCER ADVANCES BRING NEW CHALLENGES A N N E
L E V I N
images courtesy of shutterstock.com
B Y
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ith a mother and two paternal aunts who died of breast cancer, the two sisters knew it was important to get tested to see if they carried the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene. Should the test come back positive, their risk of developing breast and/or ovarian cancer would be higher than average. And preventive measures—most likely mastectomy and/or hysterectomy—could be in order. Each breathed a sigh of relief when their results were negative. But less than a decade later, both had been diagnosed with breast cancer. The older sister was treated with a lumpectomy and radiation. The younger one needed more aggressive treatment, and had the double mastectomy and hysterectomy her doctors recommended. Such a scenario is unusual, but it happens. Carrying BRCA1 or BRCA2 doesn’t mean a person will get cancer; and not carrying it is no guarantee that a woman—or man—will not. These days, genetic testing is more precise. It is also much more detailed, able to detect genetic data not only related to breast and ovarian cancer, but other forms as well. And therein lies the dilemma. Doctors have the information, but don’t always know what to do with it. Treatment hasn’t necessarily caught up with what advances in testing reveal. “Advances in the last few years have been in the ability to test a wider selection of genetic mutations responsible for breast, ovarian, and other cancers,” says Dr. Erica Linden, medical director of breast oncology and cancer genetics at Capital Health Medical Center in Hopewell. “Instead of testing just for BRCA1 and 2, we now have panels that test many at the same time. It can be a good thing and a bad thing. It has given us more information, but at the same time given us unclear information.”
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Designed to come up with treatments tailored to a patient’s genetic makeup, testing was previously carried out only by one company, Myriad Genetics. But since the U. S. Supreme Court overturned the company’s patent four years ago, the field has opened up to other laboratories. There are six operating today in the United States. “Immediately after the patent was overturned, several commercial labs started offering testing, and not just for BRCA. They put together panels of clusters of genes,” says Dr. Mary Daly, founder and director of the Fox Chase Cancer Center’s Risk Assessment Program. “Now we can test for 85 or 100 different genes in one blood test. We’re learning a lot more about different cancers in a family we didn’t necessarily expect to find. The question is, what do we do in terms of recommendations for that? But overall, it’s a good thing.” Results of this new era of testing sometimes lead to mutations that can’t be targeted by drugs currently on the market. But research continues on how to interpret and understand the growing field of genetic tests. “There is a whole cancer genetics community,” says Daly. “More and more conferences are dedicated just to genetics. ASCO (the American Society of Clinical Oncology) used to be dominated by clinical trial research. But more and more talks and studies are on cancer genetics. A lot of us are involved in research around the world.”
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“The American Society of Clinical Oncology has long affirmed that the recognition and management of individuals with an inherited susceptibility to cancer are core elements of oncology care,” reads a statement on the ASCO website. “...This technology introduces a new level of complexity into the practice of cancer risk assessment and management, requiring renewed effort on the part of ASCO to ensure that those providing care to patients with cancer receive the necessary education to use this new technology in the most effective, beneficial manner.” Multi-gene panels are a major innovation, but just which genes are on those panels is the question. “People are arguing about whether all should be included, until we learn more,” says Linden. “I think in the future we’ll get better at knowing the most significant genes to test for, and not cast such a wide net. We still have a way to go, as we uncover information, as to what is the best test. It will get even more complicated. But that’s the fun of science.” Innovations in testing have had an effect on the guidelines of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN). “They have changed to include more women for testing,” says Kruti McDonald, the genetics testing coordinator at Montclair Breast Center. “Insurance companies are more willing to pay for testing. It’s a totally new and ever increasing landscape.” While enhanced testing might yield a higher rate of false positives and false negatives, experts
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agree that testing—through one simple blood draw—is important. “I don’t see a down side to getting tested,” says McDonald. “Knowledge is power.” “If somebody with a family history of cancer was tested before 2011, they may want to check in to make sure there isn’t additional testing recommended,” Linden says. “It’s important to know that testing used to just predict whether one might get cancer, but increasingly we’re moving over to actual treatment decisions. So testing today can yield not only what family risk would be, but can also have an impact on diagnosis, and increasingly on prognosis and treatment.” “In general, there has been a real breakthrough in terms of why some people get cancer and some don’t,” says Daly. “We never had a good explanation for why family history was so important. This allows us to be more specific about a person’s risk and tailor their prevention activities in a more personalized way.”
images courtesy of shutterstock.com
NAVIGATING BREAST NAVIGATING BREAST CANCER CHARITIES CANCER CHARITIES October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, an ideal time to consider October is Breast Cancer Awarenessmaking a donation to an organization Month, an ideal time to consider making a in support donationof to prevention, an organizationresearch, in support treatof ment, and curing the disease. prevention, research, treatment, and Therethe are numerous charities to curing disease. choose from. All of those pink ribbons, There are numerous charities to choose 5Kfrom. walks, and fundraisers can get conAll of those pink ribbons, 5K fusing, and it is hard to know which walks, and fundraisers can get confusing,organizations what. and it is hardfund to know which Thankfully, fund there is charitynavigator. organizations what. org.Thankfully, The website potential donors therehelps is charitynavigator.org. navigate how each organization uses The website helps potential donors funds, and their financial navigate just researches how each organization uses health how efficiently they operate. funds,and and researches their financial health “Although these charities have been and just how efficiently they operate. very“Although successful generating support, theseatcharities have been together raisingatmore thansupport, $1.68 billion very successful generating annually in contributions, thebillion disparity together raising more than $1.68 inannually their financial health is enormous,” in contributions, the disparity in it their saysfinancial on the health website. is enormous,” it says those that get high marks onAmong the website. for breast cancer services Among those thatmedical get high marks for are Dana-Farber Cancer services Institute, breast cancer medical are the National BreastCancer Cancer Foundation, and Dana-Farber Institute, the It’s The Journey. National Breast Cancer Foundation, and It’s Journey. ForThe breast cancer research, the site recommends the research, Dr. Susan Love ReFor breast cancer the site search Foundation, theLove Breast Canrecommends the Dr. Susan Research cer Research the Breast Foundation, the Foundation, Breast Cancer Research Cancer Alliance, and Cancer the Vera Bradley Foundation, the Breast Alliance, Foundation for Breast Cancer. and the Vera Bradley Foundation for Breast Cancer. Breastcancer.org leads the list for Breastcancer.org leads awareness. the list for Also education and public rated highly Living Beyond education andare public awareness. AlsoBreast Cancer, the National rated highly are LivingBreast Beyond Cancer Breast Coalition SusanBreast G. Komen Cancer,Fund, the National Cancer for the Cure, and Fund, the Young Survival Coalition Susan G. Komen Coalition, for the among others. Cure, and the Young Survival Coalition, among Thoseothers. who want their dollars to fund support programs, and a Those who want theirresources, dollars to fund sense of programs, community to people impactsupport resources, and a sense edof by the disease canimpacted donatebyto community to people thethe Gloria Gemma Breast Cancer Resource disease can donate to the Gloria Gemma Foundation, Casting for Breast CancerSharasheret, Resource Foundation, Recovery, and SHARE, among Sharasheret, Casting for Recovery,others. and For a full list, others. including organizations SHARE, among not For recommended, visit www.charity a full list, including organizations navigator.org. not recommended, visit www.charitynavigator.org.
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T CELLS ATTACKING A CANCER CELL (CAR T-CELL THERAPY)
R
ecent strides in the field of genetic engineering are generating tremendous excitement. Long in the works at university and company laboratories, the implications of this treatment are far-reaching. The rapidly emerging immunotherapy approach is called adoptive cell transfer (ACT); it collects and uses patients’ own immune cells to treat their cancer. There are several types of ACT, but the star of the show right now is CAR T-cell therapy, which made medical history this last August when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first genetic therapy for widespread use. Called Kymriah, it is being marketed by Novartis, a global healthcare company based in Switzerland. While genetic therapies promise to treat many types of cancer some day, Kymriah was approved for the treatment of particularly challenging type of leukemia: B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The FDA called the disease “devastating and deadly,” and said the new treatment fills an “unmet
need.” “Novartis and other companies have been racing to develop gene therapies for other types of cancers, and experts expect more approvals in the near future,” noted New York Times science writer Denise Grady. “FDA Commissioner Scott Grady said that more than 550 types of experimental gene therapy are currently being studied.” Potential T-cell treatments for solid tumors like breast cancer are still on the horizon. While FDA approval is typically associated with specific medications, Kymriah and related gene therapies are not like drugs that can be dispensed by any physician. The process involves a proscribed sequence of procedures played out over days and weeks. To customize Kymriah for individual patients, white blood cells called T cells are removed from a patient’s bloodstream at an approved medical center and then frozen, shipped to Novartis in Morris Plains, N.J., for genetic engineering and multiplying, frozen again, and shipped back to the medical center to be dripped into the patient. That processing is expected to take 22 days. Novartis said the treatment would be available at an initial network of 20 approved medical centers to be certified within a month, a number that would be expanded to 32 by the end of the year.
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“HAPPY AND PROUD” In the Princeton area, Dr. Neel J. Gandhi, a physician at Capital Health System whose practice includes hematology, internal medicine, and medical oncology, said that he is “happy and proud” of recent advances in gene therapy techniques. Capital Health describes itself as “the region’s leader in providing progressive, quality patient care with significant investments in our exceptional physicians, nurses, and staff, as well as advanced technology.” It is comprised of two hospitals: the Regional Medical Center in Trenton and the Capital Health Medical Center in Hopewell. A facility in Hamilton provides outpatient services. “My sense is that the oncology community is very happy that the next leap is being taken—this is the first time this type of treatment has been approved and there will be more on the horizon,” said Gandhi. While acknowledging that treatment advances are “really exciting” and “big, big news for all cancer patients,” there are still, Gandhi notes “a lot of administrative hurdles and road blocks” before gene therapy becomes widely used. Capital Health aspires to eventually be a major cancer treatment center, but it’s not there yet, says Gandhi. “We really need to curb our enthusiasm,” he said. “My gut feeling is that implementation of the new technique is limited to major medical centers.” “We’ll be watching the news,” said Gandhi with cautious optimism.
These treatments have...captured the attention of researchers and the public alike because of the remarkable responses they have produced in some patients—both children and adults—for whom all other treatments had stopped working. –NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE
In addition to meeting the challenges of site approval, time lags in processing, and so on, the new treatments are extraordinarily expensive. Kymriah will be given to patients just once, and is estimated to cost a whopping $475,000. Novartis has said that if a patient does not respond within the first month after treatment, there will be no charge, and they will provide financial help to families who are uninsured or underinsured. Still, the numbers are daunting, and long-term support will doubtless include many conversations between pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, physicians, insurers, legislators, and, hopefully not least of all, patients.
SIDE EFFECTS While the outcomes of “living drugs” promise to be extraordinary, so are the current costs and potential side effects, which are usually described as acute and even life-threatening.
The revved-up “T cells,” as they are called, are capable of touching off a “cykotine storm” that can cause high fever, lung congestion, low blood pressure, neurological problems, and other complications. In addition to the FDA requirement that participating hospitals and doctors be specially trained and certified to administer the treatment, hospitals also need to stock certain drugs that quell severe reactions. “It’s very personalized, very labor intensive,” agrees Dr. Eileen Scigliano, associate professor of medicine, hematology, and medical oncology at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan, where clinical trials for similar treatments are taking place. Once a patient is approved for treatment, she said, onsite medical staff—in addition to attending hematologists and oncologists—are put on call to be ready for any emergencies that may occur. An acute bout of colitis, for example, will need the immediate attention of a gastroenterologist.
CAR T CELLS AND TCR T CELLS ARE ENGINEERED TO PRODUCE SPECIAL RECEPTORS ON THEIR SURFACES. THEY ARE THEN EXPANDED IN THE LABORATORY AND RETURNED TO THE PATIENT. CREDIT: NATIONAL CANCER INSTITUTE.
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DR. CHIARA BONINI, PROFESSOR AT THE SCHOOL OF MEDICINE, UNIVERSITÀ VITA-SALUTE, SAN RAFFAELE, AND VICE DIRECTOR FOR THE DIVISION OF IMMUNOLOGY, TRANSPLANTATION, AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES AT THE OSPEDALE SAN RAFFAELE SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTE, MILAN, ITALY.
“LIKE BEING AT A ROCK CONCERT” The fact that many of the patients who will receive this treatment would otherwise die puts dangerous side effects and prohibitive costs in perspective. “It’s kind of a juggling act,” admits Scigliano. “We need to prevent bad complications without shutting down treatment.” Scigliano is unabashedly enthusiastic about the strides being made. Researchers had been looking at the immune system for ways to treat cancer for many years. The new Novartis treatment was originally developed by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania. The first child to receive the therapy was Emily Whitehead, who was 6 and near death from leukemia in 2012 when she was treated at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Now 12, she has been free of leukemia for more than five years. Dr. Carl June, a leader in developing the treatment at the University of Pennsylvania, recently reported his team’s early experiences with it. In 2010 when tests showed that the first patient was leukemia-free a month after being treated, he and his colleagues could not believe it, and they ordered another biopsy for confirmation. “Now, I have to keep pinching myself to see that this happened,” he said. Attending early conferences where the
One of the most exciting advances in cancer is an innovative approach that involves removing a patient’s immune cells, engineering those cells to identify cancer, then infusing those cells in the patient to kill cancer. –KITEPHARMA
University of Pennsylvania results were reported was, “like being at a rock concert or hearing The Beatles for the first time. You could hear a pin drop,” said Scigliano, with a kind of wonder. “The arguments were so compelling, and you thought, ‘oh, my God—why didn’t I think of this.’”
A WORLDWIDE EFFORT There are, in fact, few conversations about singular recognition among researchers in genetic therapies. A remarkably animating factor of ACT research appears to be its highly collaborative nature. One of the most lucid (and moving) accounts of the history of genetically engineered lymphocytes is Dr. Chiara Bonini’s TEDx talk, “How Living Cells Could Help Us Fight Cancer.” Bonini is a professor at the School of Medicine, Università Vita-Salute, San Raffaele,
fall 2017
and vice director for the division of immunology, transplantation, and infectious diseases at the Ospedale San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy. The input of scientists from around the world has been key to success, she says. “Even if the journey has just started,” say TEDx organizers, “Chiara’s enthusiasm toward research will lead you towards a world of hope where everything is possible if you can share your challenges with the right team.” “It was so improbable that this would ever be a commercially-approved therapy, and now it’s the first gene therapy approved in the United States,” said Dr. June in a recent interview. “It’s so different from all the pharmaceutical models. I think the cancer world is forever changed.”
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Urban agenda Photo Contest
First Place: Thomas Marasco, Alaskan Light. Urban agenda Magazine’s “WeaTHer PaTTerns” PHoTo ConTesT Winners Thomas Marasco’s photograph entitled, “Alaskan Light” was taken on a tour through a fjord in Alaska during very dramatic weather. In Marasco’s own words, “The sun was popping in and out, creating really crazy light and shadow play. Lucky for me, a small blue hole opened up and complemented the blue ice floating.” The image was shot at ISO 1000, 150mm, f/8, 1/1000sec. Marasco grew up in Plainsboro, N.J. and cites his family influence as a strong reason for his love of photography. “Photography has been in my family for decades, and with my grandfather working at Kodak, I was handed generations of cameras but didn’t pick up the interest until I saw the magic that happened in the darkroom. Since then, I have made a career out of photography, and have a keen interest in fine art printing. For me, photography comes to life in a print, not on a screen.” Second Place goes to Seiji Inaoka for his photograph entitled, “Misty Morning,” which was taken along PA-413 near Wismer, Pa. Originally from Tokyo, Japan, Inaoka states that his interest in photography began with shooting train, airplane, and bus pictures. “Misty Morning” was captured during an early morning commute to Trenton, N.J.
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Second Place: Seiji Inaoka, Misty Morning.
fall 2017
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IMAGES COURTESY OF SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
RED-TAILED HAWK
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SOARING BEAUTY
The NJ Audubon Montclair Hawk Watch BY LAURIE PELLICHERO
It’s an incredible sight to see each fall, flocks of birds making their way down south for the winter. One of the best places to witness the yearly pilgrimage of a variety of hawks and other birds of prey is the NJ Audubon Montclair Hawk Watch Lookout, a crushed stone-filled platform that sits on a basalt ledge high on a ridge known as First Watchung Mountain in Montclair, New Jersey.
T
he site provides a panoramic view of nearly 360 degrees, including beautiful wooded areas and landmarks that are miles away, including the Statue of Liberty, the VerrazanoNarrows Bridge, the New York City skyline, the Palisades, and the Ramapo Mountains. According to NJ Audubon, an official hawk count has been conducted at the Montclair site since 1957, making it the second oldest continuous hawk watch in the nation. Only Hawk Mountain in Pennsylvania can claim a longer record. What makes the site especially unique during migration is the mix of both coastal and ridge flights. “The positioning of the ridge at Montclair along the flyway, coupled with the great visibility and rich and lengthy history, make it a great place to view raptor migration,” said Brett Ewald, program director of both the NJ Audubon Montclair and Cape May Hawk Watches. The Montclair Hawk Watch was formally organized in 1957 by three members of the Montclair Bird Club—Ruth Edwards, Suzanne Haupt, and Ruth Breck—who monitored the site from September 10 through
September 29 each fall. When the lookout was threatened by encroaching urban development, these women, along with other birders, worked to save it for future generations. The Montclair Bird Club was able to acquire the land, and gifted it to the NJ Audubon Society in 1959 to be preserved as a sanctuary. The stone platform was later constructed to allow use of the site by the many visitors “who appear as suddenly as the hawks arriving on the northwest winds at the height of migration,” according to NJ Audubon. Ewald noted that the Montclair site is now covered seven days a week from September 1 through November 30, with counts done each day from sunrise to sunset. He said that they are in their third year of operations using Trektellen software, which also records weather conditions and provides a livestream of each day’s counts. Birders can monitor the Watch online to determine the best times to go to the Lookout and get amazing views of the hawks and other species as they fly by on their travels. Ewald said that hundreds of birdwatchers come to the platform each fall to see an array of species including Sharp-shinned Hawks, Osprey, American Kestrels, Northern Harriers, and Bald Eagles. Broad-winged Hawks are frequently seen, and often appear in small groups known as “kettles.” October is prime time at the Lookout, offering the greatest diversity of species including the Red-tailed Hawk, Cooper’s Hawk, Turkey Vulture, Merlin, Red-shouldered Hawk, and the Peregrine Falcon, the fastest bird in the world. Golden Eagles have also been spotted. “The count gives us a great deal of information,” said Ewald. “We keep track of which species are going up and going down in numbers, so specific actions can be taken. The populations of Osprey, Bald Eagles, and Peregrine Falcons have rebounded a great deal since the banning of pesticides that were used in the 1960s and 1970s. Factors changing the counts each year also include climate changes, food availability, habitat loss, and other predators.”
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PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRIS NEFF.
The Lookout provides a panoramic view of nearly 360 degrees, including the New York City skyline.
The steps leading to the platform.
Birders at the Montclair Hawk Watch Lookout.
The count varied quite a bit from 2015 to 2016 for a number of species (see chart), and Ewald noted, “Raptor migration can vary greatly from year to year, often having to do with weather systems—in the fall, cold fronts with north-west/northerly winds and falling temperatures can produce large flights—some years the conditions aren’t optimal.” NJ Audubon runs a week-long Hawk Watch Training Program at the end of each August, when interpretive naturalists give the counters for the upcoming season a broad-based orientation on how to cover the Hawk Watch, including important areas such as when the hawks are expected to migrate, how to count them, and how to tell each species apart. And where are hawks going as they head south? According to Ewald, “Depending on the species, they will be wintering anywhere from the southern U.S. to the tip of South America. Many will follow the coast around the Gulf and funnel through Mexico, while lesser numbers cross the Gulf.” When the hawks come back north in the spring,
the NJ Audubon Montclair Hawk Watch again resumes its count from March 16 to May 15. That is conducted at Essex County Park of Mills Reservation, which is directly across from the Lookout facing north, because the visibility to the south is better from there. Along with the official count, the NJ Audubon Montclair Hawk Watch Lookout is a popular gathering place for birders. Chris Neff, director of communications for NJ Audubon, said, “There is a camaraderie among all birders and wildlife supporters, from the young to the old. It is a community—we share stories, point out to others birds we see, and take the time to explain why these birds are so fascinating to others. Once a birder, always a birder. We have people who learned birding at the Watch when they were just kids, and they return to the Watch to relive those memories and make new ones. Birding brings families outdoors.” The platform is open to the public, although Neff said that it is not recommended for small children or those who have difficulty climbing stairs, as there is a steep
PEREGRINE FALCON
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images courtesy of shutterstock.com
Bald EaglE
amErican KEstrEl
OsprEy
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SPECIES
2013
2014
2015
2016
BLACK VULTURE
51
45
56
26
TURKEY VULTURE
775
757
2,067 1,081
OSPREY
200
414
302
183
BALD EAGLE
117
182
120
106
GOLDEN EAGLE
5
1
1
1
NORTHERN HARRIER
41
77
39
31
SHARP-SHINNED HAWK
1,178
1,749
1,259
671
COOPER’S HAWK
161
288
289
168
RED-SHOULDERED HAWK
157
472
239
175
BROAD-WINGED HAWK
8,383
6,192
1,223
1,074
RED-TAILED HAWK
145
165
118
75
AMERICAN KESTREL
259
415
207
127
MERLIN
74
87
107
54
PEREGRINE FALCON
25
61
55
23
TOTAL
11,571
10,905 6,082
SOURCE: NJ AUDUBON
BROAD-WINGED HAWK set of steps going up the side of the basalt outcrop. To reach the NJ Audubon Montclair Hawk Watch from the Garden State Parkway in Bloomfield, take exit 151 for Watchung Avenue and head west on Watchung to its end at Upper Mountain Avenue in Montclair, about 2.1 miles. Make a right turn and go north on Upper Mountain 0.7 miles to Bradford Avenue. Make a left turn and go up Bradford 0.1 miles to Edgecliff Road and make a right turn. Go up Edgecliff 0.2 miles and park on the shoulder. The Lookout path is on the south side of the road. NJ Audubon recommends that you wear comfortable shoes and dress in layers according to the season, and bring binoculars, sunblock, patience, and a “smile in your heart.” Else M. Greenstone, a longtime volunteer with the Montclair Hawk Watch, once wrote of the importance of the Watch: “One need only look at a child’s face beaming at the sight of a soaring Bald Eagle or the glorious colors of an American Kestrel to realize that while the count itself is important, it is the shared experience of the beauty of these birds and the mystery of migration that is at the core of the Montclair Hawk Watch. While sharing in the quest of the autumnal wingspan, we reach out for an increased knowledge and a growing awareness of the plight of the birds of prey.”
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GREAT FALL BIRDING AND HAWK WATCH LOCATIONS ALSO INCLUDE: Cape May Hawk Watch, Cape May County The command post for this watch is a multi-layered wooden platform in Cape May Point State Park, on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean at the southern tip of New Jersey. www.njaudubon.org Chimney Rock Hawk Watch, Somerset County This watch is located in Washington Valley Park, on the First Watchung Ridge in Martinsville. www.crhw.org
Racoon Ridge Hawk Watch, Warren County One of New Jersey’s premiere hawk watches, it is located at 1,563 feet, on top of the Kittatinny Mountains, in the western reaches of the state. www.njaudubon.org Scott’s Mountain Hawk Watch, Warren County Started in 1973, the watch is held daily from September 1 to November 30 at the Tower Parking Lot of Merrill Creek Reservoir. www.njaudubon.org Wildcat Ridge Hawkwatch, Morris County This watch was established in 1996 and is located the the Wildcat Ridge Wildlife Management Area in Hibernia. www.wcrhawkwatch.com
IMAGES COURTESY OF SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
NJ AUDUBON’S MONTCLAIR HAWK WATCH COUNT TOTALS – FALL
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De st in at i on:
Clinton A
symbol of early American industry, Clinton’s iconic Red Mill still sits aside the Raritan River. Since its construction two centuries ago, the mill’s sleepy water wheel has worked with cloth, minerals, food, and electricity. Now, the mill is home to an array of galleries. Some house historical reproductions, some display pieces from international artists, and others hold fragments of local Clinton history. Furthermore, it stands as the centerpiece of the Red Mill Museum Village, which also includes the Mulligan Quarry and the Bunker Hill Schoolhouse, a one-room schoolhouse from 1860. The museum village hosts events like film festivals, blacksmithing exhibitions, and Peg Leg’s Paracon, which exhibits the historical and paranormal importance of the area. Right across the Raritan is the Hunterdon Art Museum, similarly housed in a 19th-century stone gristmill. What it lacks in Red Mill’s vivid paint job and historical collections, it makes up for with art exhibitions that span forms and materials both conventional and eccentric. “The Art of Construction” uses drywall, PVC pipes, milk crates, and other construction site staples to challenge the viewer’s perceptions of common building materials. “Interconnections: The Language of Basketry” weaves materials like stapled paper and fabricated metal to expand the concept of basketry beyond a utilitarian folk craft. Just a bridge walk away from the Red Mill, each bank of the Raritan offers a different artistic experience – one looking back, and the other looking forward. A bevy of culinary options complement Clinton’s rich cultural offerings, with just as much creativity and variety. Just a few blocks down from the Hunterdon Art Museum and still adjacent to the Raritan is The Clean Plate Kitchen. A local favorite, its menu is overflowing with treats like Yummus, Cut the Crab, and Not Your Grandma’s Meatloaf. A focus on healthy options, good service, and menu items off the beaten path makes The Clean Plate Kitchen a great choice for something new. If you’re lucky, a few ducks might visit while you dine. If you’re just looking for a quick bite without compromising on the Clinton experience, the red neon rim of the Clinton Station Diner lights the way to a good meal all day and night. True to its name, diners can choose to eat in Biela, a train car from 1927, or simply watch model trains roll by on a ceiling-suspended track. The menu ranges from diner staples like burgers and omelets to lamb shanks with orzo, stuffed grape leaves, and cheesecake. And for the ambitious eater, the Mt. Olympus—a 50-pound burger—is nearly enough to stop a train. For a more traditional dinner, Dora Restaurant provides a relaxing atmosphere to complement Clinton’s quaint charm. Italian classics like ravioli, puttanesca, and flounder fill the stomach and warm the heart. Pru Thai offers Thai treats like Crying Tiger with a slew of spices, sauces, and seasonings. Ye Olde Sub Base serves up hot subs, cold cuts, and the muchbeloved Beer Cheese Soup, all in the heart of historic Clinton. Frank’s Pizza & Restaurant is more than a simple pizzeria, offering Veal Parmesan, Chicken with Capers and Mushrooms, and a wine garlic sauce over pasta. Towne Restaurant has all the charm of a small-town, family-owned diner loved by locals and visitors alike, serving gyros, omelets, Pesto Chicken Focaccia, and more. Finally, to top a day out with a treat, JJ Scoops gives a much-needed sugar dose in a variety of forms. Their cones, floats, and milkshakes are enough to sate any sweet tooth. If you happen to be in Clinton in late October when the darkness falls, don’t drive home yet—head back to the Red Mill. Each year, the Red Mill Museum Village runs a Haunted Mill fundraiser. Spanning nine acres of the museum’s land, it features mazes, hayrides, and a terror trail. Dozens of live actors come together to transform living history into the living dead. For what might seem like a sleepy little town, Clinton has variety in spades—historically, artistically, and gastronomically. The variety might be overwhelming, but there’s always time. Regardless of whether you visit a week, a month, or years from now, that water wheel will still be turning, pushed along by the gentle Raritan River.
Red Mill Museum Village
Hunterdon Art Museum
View of Clinton along the Raritan River
Towne Restaurant
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william uhl
The Clean Plate Kitchen fall 2017
Red Mill MuseuM photo couRtesy of WikiMedia coMMons; hunteRdon aRt MuseuM photo couRtesy of yelp; RiveR photo by d. dogas; toWne RestauRant and the clean plate photos couRtesy of yelp.
by
urban pantry 1.
Three Hearts Home: Three Hearts Home is a specialty gift shop bringing the spirit of the maker movement to Somerville. Offering a wide range of unique American made and Fair Trade products with an emphasis on independent designers and makers, it has become a destination for shoppers looking to make a local and global impact with their purchases. 908.206.4964; www.threeheartshome.com 1. Beach Stone Salt Cellar: Handmade from allnatural stones by Funky Rock Designs; $34.
6. Screen Printed Tea Towel: Hand screen printed by Wild Hart Paper; $19. 3, 5. Le Bon Magot: A multi-award-winning, woman-owned specialty food business offering distinctive flavors of chutneys, pickles, and preserves created from unique spice blends, unusual ingredients, and innovative treatments of traditional recipes. All are made in small batches using only the freshest produce and highest quality spices with no additives, preservatives, or gluten. 609.477.2847; www.lebonmagot.com
2. Waxing Moon Bottle: Handmade of porcelain with gold waxing moon motif by Honeycomb Studio; $44. 4. Wheel Thrown Pottery Mugs: Handmade in Vermont by Jeremy Ayers; $38.
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3.
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product selection by joann cella
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CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS Saturday, October
21
Drew University in Madison presents Drew Forum with comedian Samantha Bee and New York Magazine writer Rebecca Traister. www.drew.edu
Sunday, October
22
Presented by the Hoboken Historical Museum, the 31st Annual Hoboken House Tour will feature approximately 10 homes and condos, plus special bonus stops graciously opened to visitors by Museum supporters. www.hobokenmuseum.org
Tuesday, October
Saturday, October
28
Monday, October
NYCRuns Haunted Half Marathon in Brooklyn, N.Y. nycruns.com Long Branch Fall Festival with pumpkin painting, inflatable rides, vendors, and a pooch parade. This fun-filled event is a partnership between Pier Village, the City of Long Branch, and the Greater Long Branch Chamber of Commerce. www,piervillage.com
30
Green Roofs for Healthy Cities Workshop at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken. Learn about green roof and green wall technologies, including national projects, national policies, and case studies. www.stevens.edu
Wednesday, November
1
Friday, November
3
BVLGARI’s Haute Horlogerie Collection Watch exhibit displaying watches that are in limited availability. On view at The Mall at Short Hills through November 12. www.shopshorthills.com
NOV. 3
All aboard for a trainload of adventures! With the “Thomas & Friends: Explore the Rails” exhibit at Liberty Science Center, kids can learn, play, and solve problems with Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends (on view through May 2018). www,lsc.org
OCT. 28
24
Hockey great Sean Avery, a former player for the Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings, and New York Rangers, signs copies of his new book, Ice Capades: A Memoir of Fast Living and Tough Hockey at Bookends Bookstore in Ridgewood. www.book-ends.com
OCT. 21
NOV. 4
OCTOBER
Saturday, November
OCT. 27
Sunday, October
Thursday, October
26
Actor/comedian Denis Leary launches his new book, Why We Don’t Suck, with a humorously-moderated discussion at Bergen Performing Arts Center in Englewood. www.bergenpac.org
Friday, October
27
“Drones: Is The Sky The Limit?” exhibit on view at The Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City (through December 3). www.intrepidmuseum.org
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Celebrate Halloween in downtown Westfield with a trick-or-treat parade and costume contest. www.westfieldtoday.com The Winemakers Co-Op Fall Portfolio Tasting at Working Dog Winery in Robbinsville. Attendees will sample wines, mingle with winemakers, and learn about the crafting process. www.thewinemakersco-op.com
Thursday, November
Halloween Hike at Palisades Interstate Park in Alpine. Attendees should meet at the Kearny House at Alpine Picnic Area and Boat Basin. Be sure to bring a flashlight! www.njpalisades.org Lucinda Williams & Friends, hosted by Steven Van Zandt, performs at Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank. www.countbasietheatre.org
4
Essex County Turtle Back Zoo is excited to welcome the Sea Turtle Recovery Center to the list of new exhibits and partnerships on zoo grounds. The new facility will be used to nurse injured sea turtles back to health before they are released into the wild (ongoing). www. turtlebackzoo.com
2
The Historic Downtown Jersey City Farmers’ Market features over 25 vendors selling everything from vegetables to freshly-baked empanadas and homemade mozzarella (repeats every Monday and Thursday). www,jcdowntown.org First Thursday Nights at Montclair Art Museum in Montclair. Free general museum admission, full-service bar, food vendors, draw-along workshop, live music, and tours (also on December 7). www.montclairartmuseum.org
FALL 2017
Soup & Sip, a fall classic at 4JG’s Orchards & Vineyards in Colts Neck. Get ready for the winter chill by sipping some delicious soup and wine pairings (also on Sunday, November 5). www.4jgswinery.com Ceramic artist Molly Hatch has been commissioned to produce a monumental three-part installation at Newark Museum using underglazepainted porcelain plates. Inspired by the global textiles in the Museum’s collection, the installation is now open to the public, along with the new gallery of the “Arts of Global Africa.” www.newarkmuseum.org UFC comes to Madison Square Garden when Canadian superstar Georges St-Pierre returns to the Octagon to challenge Michael Bisping for the middleweight title. www.thegarden.com
Sunday, November
5
Monday, November
TCS New York City Marathon 2017. www.tcsnycmarathon.org Canine comedy stunt show Mutts Gone Nuts! at Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown. www.mayoarts.org
Wednesday, November
8
Krysten Ritter reads from and signs copies of her book, Bonfire, at the Barnes & Noble in Union Square, New York City. www.barnesandnoble.com
Thursday, November 9
13
Wednesday, November
Free Walk-In Valuation Day at Rago Arts and Auction Center in Lambertville. www.ragoarts.com Eclectic singer-songwriter and pianist Regina Spektor performs at State Theatre New Jersey in New Brunswick. www.stnj.org
Tuesday, November
Enchanting model trains zip through a display of 150 landmarks, each recreated with bark, leaves, and other natural materials at the New York Botanical Garden (on view through January 15, 2018). www.nybg.org
Thursday, November
14
22
23
2017 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
The Radio City Rockettes present the annual Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall (through January 1). www.rockettes.com/christmas
Saturday, November
25
Rutgers University football vs. Michigan State at High Point Solutions Stadium in Piscataway. www.scarletknights.com The start of holiday events in downtown Westfield with photos with Santa and Mrs. Claus, shopping, and strolling musical entertainment (ongoing). www.westfieldtoday.com American Repertory Ballet performance of The Nutcracker at McCarter Theatre (also on Sunday, November 26). www.arballet.org Small Business Saturday in Summit. Skip the mall and shop small! Many local businesses will feature discounts for the day. www.summitdowntown.org
Alec Baldwin and Kurt Andersen in Conversation: You Can’t Spell America Without Me at the 92nd Street Y in New York City. www.92y.org
nov. 23
Wednesday, November
nov. 19
Sunday, November
12
Pumpkin/Sweet Potato Pie Contest at the Summit Farmers Market in downtown Summit. www.summitdowntown.org Upper Montclair Country Club and Bridal Show in Clifton. Includes a fashion show showcasing gowns and tuxedos and the opportunity to meet with the top wedding vendors in New Jersey. www.uppermontclaircountryclub.com Grab your trusted canine companion for Santa Paws at The Mall at Short Hills. Have your dog’s holiday picture taken with Santa—costumes encouraged (ongoing). www.shopshorthills.com
15
Sunday, November
Saturday, November
Sunday, November
Wednesday, November
18
nov. 12
Visit Abma’s Farm in Wycoff, Bergen County’s favorite poultry and produce farm, for homegrown turkeys, vegetables, eggs, and baked goods. www.abmasfarm.com
19
New York Giants vs. Kansas City Chiefs at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford. www.giants.com Julliard Jazz under the leadership of Julliard alumni Wynton Marsalis, performs at South Orange Performing Arts Center (SOPAC) in South Orange. www.sopacnow.org
26
New York Jets vs. Carolina Panthers at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford. www.newyorkjets.com
The Franklin Lakes Branch of The Valley Hospital Auxiliary holds its 10th annual Pre-Holiday Brunch and Boutique Shopping Extravaganza at the Indian Trail Club in Franklin Lakes. www.valleyhealth.com/Auxiliary
Friday, November
24
Holiday Express Concert & Town Lighting in downtown Red Bank. The Red Bank Fire Department will be on hand with free hot chocolate. Also, holiday tunes and free parking throughout town. www.redbank.org The Brian Setzer Orchestra’s 14th Annual Christmas Rocks Tour at Wellmont Theater in Montclair. www.wellmonttheater.com Chris Rock: Total Blackout Tour at the Borgata Hotel, Casino, and Spa in Atlantic City. www.atlanticcitynj.com
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november
nov. 29
2017 Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting. www.rockefellercenter.com
Thursday, November
30
Previews begin for It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play at The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey in Madison (through December 31). shakespearenj.org
Experience an evening of conversation with journalist and author Cokie Roberts as part of the New Jersey Speakers Series, seven powerful and enlightening programs presented by Fairleigh Dickinson University at NJPAC in Newark. After serving as a congressional correspondent for more than 10 years, Roberts is best known for her role as a senior news analyst for NPR. www.njpac.org
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PRODUCT SELECTION BY LYNN ADAMS SMITH
WINTER IS COMING...
Game of Thrones Robert Baratheon Crown replica; $280; valyriansteel.com Game of Thrones Dragonclaw Goblet replica; $29; thinkgeek.com
Call of Duty pants; $575; store.junkerdesigns.com Sodalite Wizard Wand; $275; magicwandstore.com Game of Thrones Jon Snow Cape; price upon request; store.hbo.com
Alexander McQueen metal skull and woven leather bracelet; $315; mrporter.com
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Skull and Crow party invitation; $15; make-yourown-invitation.com Draco hat; $447; headnhome.com Wild Card flask holder; $80; fiveanddiamond.com Fika Chocolate gold mini skulls; $12 for 3; fikanyc.com
FALL 2017
SUMMIT DOWNTOWN YOUR DESIGN DESTINATION
Downtown Summit has all the expertise and products you need for interior decorating and home renovations. A. Home beautylounge Bedrosian Industries Boll & Branch Cabri, Inc. Kitchens and Fine Custom Cabinetry Cove Carpet One Floor & Home Design 1 Donna Donaldson Home & Interiors DUXIANA Frames For You GreatHouse Bonny Neiman Hawthorne Healthy Choice Organic Mattress Hoffman Architects Home Again Design
Kitchen Expressions Michael Chiarella Architect Peanut Gallery LLC Pereaux Interior Design Ricciardi Brothers Paint Rosen Kelly Conway Architecture & Design Rugs of Orient Serena & Lily – Coming Soon Summit Bath & Kitchen Design Gallery Summit Fireplace Centre Summit Frame & Art The Fireplace Place The Wicker Tree West Elm
For more information visit our website or call us.
summitdowntown.org • 908.277.6100
ALL HALLOWS’ EVE Fauxtale antler headband; $185; fauxtaledesign.com Fleurs Boheme shawl; price upon request; etsy.com Gia Couture Arabesque velvet lace up mules; $519; luisaviaroma.com John Derian-designed octagonal raven Astier De Villatte platter; $290; johnderian.com Feathered Soul bow & arrow necklace; price upon request; featheredsoul.com Graeme Anthony pewter medieval goblet; $175; graemeanthonypewter. com.au Swarm one of a kind painting bag; $165; swarmhome.bigcartel.com Feathered Soul Bali earrings; $1,200; featheredsoul.com Cecilia de Bucourt skirt; price upon request; ceciliadebucourtonline.com
PRODUCT SELECTION BY LYNN ADAMS SMITH
Veruca Chocolates spider web chocolate bars; $4.50; verucachocolates.com
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New Jersey Realtors® We’ve shown our true colors for 100 years. New Jersey Realtors® is comprised of 48,000 members who’ve pledged to serve their clients with knowledge, experience, and responsibility. It’s this higher standard that separates a Realtor® from any other real estate agent.
njrealtor.com/truecolors