Truth is ... Words Can Last. Just ask Sam.

The Bible. The Odyssey. Moby Dick. The Lord of The Rings. To Kill A Mockingbird.   Classic books that have stood the test of time.  Printed again and again.  Read by generations. The titles of these greatest books conjure up images whether you have read them once, twice --or never.  Their lessons and stories transcend time.  The truth is words can last.

Childhood Treasures

The Cat In The Hat.  Charlotte's Web.  Good Night Moon.  Where The Wild Things Are.  Winnie The Pooh.  Literary heavyweights?  Maybe not.  Timeless treasures for children?  For sure. Their words and characters stay with us like old friends we see again time and again.  They connect us to moments and memories with our parents.  And decades later we share these same bedtime stories and books with our own kids -- or our grand kids.  The words last.  They connect us.

Will and I like to read at the barber shop when we are waiting for haircuts.  Most other times reading can be a chore that Will dreads.  It's work that takes away from video games.

But in the barber shop on a Saturday morning, when it is "me and him" time ... then a good Dr. Seuss book is exciting and fun.  I will never look at Dr. Seuss as long as I live and not see him sitting in the Plaza Barber shop with me - and smiling.

Pleasant Memories, Personal Meanings

Words that last are the Mother's Day card you wrote in first grade (or the Father's Day card Tess wrote for me this year).   It's the the first article you wrote for the school newspaper. It's your grandparent's hand-written recipes for pot pies or sauerkraut balls.  These words bring pleasant memories and personal meanings.

Father's Day Message from Tess

Words for Liberty State Park

And sometimes, words can last in ways you would never expect.  Twenty-one years ago, my friend was publishing Hudson County Magazine and needed some freelance writers to help bring his pages to life with stories about the area.  I had spent a good part of my graduate studies at Fordham University researching the history of Liberty State Park for a project.  It was a place I had known since my own childhood and I had seen firsthand its transformation from an industrial dump to a national treasure enjoyed by families.



I was fascinated with the park's history and fell in love with the story of Morris Pesin, whose vision and advocacy over decades led to the creation of this historic park.  Pesin was part businessman, part politician and part showman, and so I agreed to write an article about his fight for Liberty State Park.

I wrote it.  It printed.  I got paid.  Long forgotten.  End of story, right?

Well, today that article still has a life.  It's framed and hangs on a wall in the Liberty State Park visitor's center.  Check it out next time you visit.

And every summer -- like clockwork -- I can count on my mother calling me to say that she ran into Morris Pesin's son Sam at one of the concerts at the Park.  Sam says hello to my mother and father and tells them how grateful he is for that story.  He asks for me and my family and wants an update.  He points out my parents to other people at the concert and says, "That's the Prices.  Their son Bill wrote that article about my dad..."

Morris Pesin did an amazing thing creating Liberty State Park.  I did a little thing in telling his story.  But words have deep meaning.  They strike a chord and stir memories.  They bring back people lest their stories be forgotten.

Words can last.  Just ask Sam.

PS
Sam and others in the Friends of Liberty State Park organization have kept the article alive on their website. You can read it here.