I’ve argued for years that John Scher — New Jersey’s dominant concert promoter for decades, and “one of the inventors of the modern rock concert business,” in the words of NJPAC CEO John Schreiber — should be inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame. And now, he is at least among the 50 nominees for the class of 2019-20.
Other nominees include Eli Manning, Cissy Houston, Ernie Kovacs, Charles Addams, Fairleigh Dickinson, William Paterson, Gay Talese, Buddy Hackett, Flip Wilson, Mike Trout, Fran Lebowitz and the legendary editor who hired me to work for The Star-Ledger more than 30 years ago, Mort Pye.
Public voting is now underway online at njhalloffame.org/2019-nominee-voting.
The inductees will be announced in July, and a virtual induction ceremony is planned for October.
Here are the nominees:
ARTS & LETTERS
Charles Addams
Stephen Crane
Joyce Kilmer
Fran Lebowitz
John Forbes Nash
Dr. George Theophilus Walker
Gay Talese
Mort Pye
Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Paula Kassell
PUBLIC SERVICE
Richard Stockton
William Paterson
William Livingston
Alfred Driscoll
Sister Jane Francis Brady
Dr. Virginia Apgar
Milton Friedman
Martin Dempsey
Michael Chertoff
Margaret Bancroft
ENTERPRISE
Borg Family
Linda Bowden
James Burke
Fairleigh Dickinson
Denise Morrison
Steve Kalafer
Henry Rowan
Joe Simunovich
John Scher
Paul Volcker
PERFORMING ARTS
Danny Aiello
John Amos
Paul Anka
Buddy Hackett
Cissy Houston
Ernie Kovacs
Nelson Family (Ozzie, Harriet & Ricky)
Flip Wilson
Mary Chapin Carpenter
George Benson
SPORTS
Eli Manning
Craig Biggio
Rick Barry
Gerry Cooney
Tim Howard
Vivian Stringer
Mike Trout
Monte Irvin
Bob Mulcahy
Sue Wicks
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