Located at the entrance to New York Harbor, Staten Island has had a front-row seat to many of the comings and goings of the New World. From the early European explorers, such as Verrazano and Hudson, to the waves of immigrants coming in steerage, the island would be part of a gateway to a great continent. Some visitors stayed briefly, while others would go no further and would make the island their forever home. Those who called Staten Island home would include inventors, business leaders, writers, athletes, politicians, and artists. Some famous islanders include industry titan Cornelius Vanderbilt; inventor Antonio Meucci; Central Park visionary Frederick Law Olmsted; poet Edwin Markham; silent film star Mabel Normand; and singers Christina Aguilera, Joan Baez, and members of Wu-Tang Clan. All these would play a role in the development of Staten Island, a borough of New York City and sister to one of the world's great metropolises.

In the 1870s, railroads transformed Montclair from a rural retreat to a haven for influential businessmen and artists. They came for the orderly government, excellent schools, flourishing churches, able physicians, and attractive families. Actress Laura Keene sought the area's healthy atmosphere after contracting tuberculosis. Civil War hero Dr. J.J.H. Love was influential in organizing the first hospital. Other Civil War notables include Medal of Honor recipient Abram Haring and Gen. John C. Tidball. After famed painter George Inness made Montclair his home, dozens of artists came to be near him and share his influences. Today's roster of artists continues to be amazing: Oliver Lake, Frankie Faison, Horace Ott, George Walker, Olympia Dukakis, and Louis Zorich. Legendary Locals of Montclair shares the inspiring tales of songwriter Herman Hupfeld; Lucy Stone, founder of the American Suffrage Association; medical pioneers Emily and Elizabeth Blackwell; pastor Harry Emerson Fosdick; violin maker Carleen Hutchins; astronaut Buzz Aldrin; inventor Carleton Ellis; and baseball greats Yogi Berra and Larry Doby.

From the South Ends early years as an upper- and middle-class residential district to its time as an immigrant and rooming house neighborhood and then to its recent urban renewal, residents have shaped its legacy and its place within the city of Boston. Locals have worked in common to make the South End a safe and vibrant community for over two centuries. Notables such as architect Gridley J.F. Bryant, preservation advocate Arthur Howe, and pedestrian advocate Ann Hershfang contributed immensely to the built environment. Residents like settlement house leader Robert Woods, immigrant and author Mary Antin, politician and activist Mel King, urban gardener Betsy Johnson, and lawyer Harry Dow, to name a few, shaped minds and lives alike. Add to their ranks artists like Allan Rohan Crite and Kahlil Gibran, jazz club owner Joseph Walcott, longtime restaurateurs such as the Foley and Manjourides families, and bar owner and gay rights advocate Leo Motsis and a true picture of the South Ends history and diversity begins to emerge.

It is a pious paradise wrested from the dunes; a salty carnival of dreamers, drifters, and just plain folks; a city made legendary by Bruce Springsteen and Stephen Crane but grounded in generations of turbulent American reality. Even those who never lived there feel proprietary about Asbury Park--a place of shared experiences and strong passions, where grand sandcastle plans wash up against changing times and tides. Legendary Locals of Asbury Park captures a parade of personalities, from the visionaries who challenged nature to the true believers who sought, against tremendous odds, to make a year-round life in this city of summers. The shopkeepers and show people, the advocates on the front lines of social change, and the chroniclers who witnessed history are all among those who helped a small town cast a giant profile, here and on the big boardwalk beyond.

Located at the entrance to New York Harbor, Staten Island has had a front-row seat to many of the comings and goings of the New World. From the early European explorers, such as Verrazano and Hudson, to the waves of immigrants coming in steerage, the island would be part of a gateway to a great continent. Some visitors stayed briefly, while others would go no further and would make the island their forever home. Those who called Staten Island home would include inventors, business leaders, writers, athletes, politicians, and artists. Some famous islanders include industry titan Cornelius Vanderbilt; inventor Antonio Meucci; Central Park visionary Frederick Law Olmsted; poet Edwin Markham; silent film star Mabel Normand; and singers Christina Aguilera, Joan Baez, and members of Wu-Tang Clan. All these would play a role in the development of Staten Island, a borough of New York City and sister to one of the world's great metropolises.