That Jersey Spirit
"Camden was originally an accident, but I shall never be sorry I was left over in Camden. It has brought me blessed returns."
-Walt Whitman
What makes America great isn’t the land. It’s the stories. And there are but a handful of places that offer stories with such potency. New Jersey is one such place. It offers stories through song, acting, science, literature, poetry, and physical will. New Jersey punches beyond its size to show the limitless potential and constant renewal of America.
It’s an odd thing when you move elsewhere and come back to the state. Some other places I’ve lived have been ideological places. Let’s call it living under the golden curtain. The only ones who live free there are those who are either extremely rich or complete vagabonds. Other places can’t get over something that happened over a hundred years ago. In Jersey, there are a lot of normies but because people are used to not agreeing with everyone and still getting along we are free to be ourselves. It’s not remotely perfect here, but it’s outright Borgish elsewhere. I guess if you live through your smartphone it doesn't matter where you live, but I’m a street kid. I hang on the stoop and talk shit. You learn how to maintain your individuality within the herd.
I think of the athletes like Marvin Hagler, Jordan Burroughs, and Mike Trout. There’s musicians like Lauryn Hill, Whitney Houston, or Glenn Danzig. Where would we be without Allen Ginsberg, Joyce Kilmer, or Walt Whitman? There are so many actors like: Joe Pesci, Anne Hathaway, Danny DeVito, etc. As a kid I grew up watching the first Iraq War. Setting all the politics aside I remember watching Stormin Norman Schwartzkopf on tv. As far as I can remember he was the last hero general and while at Boys State in Trenton I got to shake his hand. The list is endless. I even made one but its too long. So for now I’ll just name off a few.
Musicians:
-Frank Sinatra
-Nancy Sinatra
-Jon Bon Jovi
-Queen Latifah
-Glenn Danzig
-That one guy… what’s his name again? Bryce?
-Frank Iero
-Redman
-Dionne Warwick
-Akon
Film:
-Michael Douglas
-Anne Hathaway
-James Gandolfini: Yo Tone!
-Jason Alexander: Can’t stand ya!
-Paul Rudd: Passaic baby!
-Zoe Saldana: Passaic baby!
-Zach Braff: the nurse guy
-Jason Biggs: the pie guy
-James Mewes
-Kevin Smith
-Daisy Fuentes
-Christopher Reeve: Superman son! Princeton raised.
-Jon Stewart
-Xander Berkeley
-Brooke Shields
-Tom Cruise
-Tate Donovan
-Bruce Willis
-Bill Bellamy
-Ed Harris
-Vera Farmiga
-Dulé Hill
-Nathan Lane
-Ray Liota
-George R R Martin
-Kelly Ripa
-Roy Scheider
-Michael B Jordan: grew up in Newark. Played one of the best “villains”
Sports:
-Shaq
-Johnny Gaudreau
-Frankie Edgar
-Bam Bam Bigelow
-James Van Riemsdyk
-Kyle Palmieri
Others:
-Steve Forbes
-Fran Lebowitz
-Aaron Burr
-Anthony Bourdain
-Chris Christie
-Dana Bash: lol
-David Copperfield
-The Jonas Brothers
-Jared Kushner
-Mark and Scott Kelly
-Buzz Aldrin
-John Brennan: former director of the CIA
-William Carlos Williams
-Dick Vitale: Passaic WHAT?!
-Abner Zwillman
-Bill Maher
Damn, it really is too many. Just go on wikipedia and read up: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_from_New_Jersey
At the end of the day there are so many good places in this country, but without all these people from New Jersey throughout the years what would America be? It would still be a great place, but it wouldn’t have that punch. New Jersey is the size of a toothpick but it punches like a heavyweight. Where you at America?
I’ll leave this here for a laugh. Notice who hates everyone...
