David Cassidy on the Web
Michael Douglas, Joyce Carol Oates, to be inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame induction
June 08, 2012
By Vicki Hyman
The Star-Ledger
www.nj.com
Devotees of Caldwell native and former President Grover Cleveland may be weeping into their walrus mustaches after yet another snub by the New Jersey Hall of Fame, but fans of actor Michael Douglas, writer Joyce Carol Oates, Olympian Milt Campbell and legendary high school basketball coach Bob Hurley will be celebrating their induction into the hall Saturday night in Newark.
A slew of late New Jersey notables will also be inducted, including Giants owner Wellington Mara; Campbell's condensed soup inventor John Dorrance; sharpshooter Annie Oakley, who once made Nutley her home; publishing tycoon Samuel I. Newhouse Sr. (raised in Bayonne, his family owns The Star-Ledger); Newark jazz singer Sarah Vaughan; and actor and disability rights activist Christopher Reeve, a Princeton native.
Eric LeGrand, the former Scarlet Knight who was paralyzed during a 2010 game, will be at the ceremony and honored with the Hall of Fame's Unsung Hero Award.
"There's a real awareness of what Chris (Reeve) did for people with spinal cord injuries and how he was such a champion for medical research," says Don Jay Smith, the executive director of the Hall of Fame. "Eric has continued that. He is such an amazing kid that we felt this would be a good year to recognize his courageous spirit. He's encouraged other young people with serious injuries to look at life differently."
Other New Jersey notables, some previous Hall of Fame inductees themselves, will be on hand to usher the inductees into the hall, including New York Jets owner Woody Johnson for cousin Michael Douglas (born in New Brunswick, Douglas' aunt was married to J. Seward Johnson Sr.), and bestselling mystery writers Mary Higgins Clark and Harlan Coben for Oates.
Former New York Giant Frank Gifford will be on hand to help Mara's widow Anne accept the honor. Gifford's wife Kathie Lee, astronaut Buzz Aldrin, designer Michael Graves, boxer Chuck Wepner, actor Vincent Curatola, Olympic star Joetta Clark Diggs, and another former Giant, Bart Oates, will also be at the ceremony.
Jazz guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli, a 2011 inductee, will perform with his trio, Ed Laub and Frank Vignola, along with LaBamba and the Hubcaps and former teen idol David Cassidy, who grew up in West Orange with his maternal grandparents.
Each year, the Hall of Fame compiles nominations from the public into a master list, which is reviewed by a team of experts and submitted to a voting academy, which chooses the names to submit to the public for a final online vote. The E Street Band was elected to the Hall of Fame this year, but band members opted to delay the induction because they are currently touring Europe with Bruce Springsteen.
IF YOU GO
New Jersey Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
Where: New Jersey Performing Arts Center, 1 Center St., Newark
When: Saturday at 7 p.m.
How much: $20 to $60. VIP tickets, including priority seating and admission to a pre-ceremony cocktail party and a post-ceremony dessert reception, are $300. Call (888) 466-5722 or visit njpac.org.
