Marc Mappen, Former Rutgers Dean, to Read from his New Book, There’s More To New Jersey Than The Sopranos, Dec. 10 at Eagleton

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. – Marc Mappen, executive director of the New Jersey Historical Commission, will read excerpts from his new book, There’s More to New Jersey than the Sopranos (Rutgers University Press, 2009), at the Eagleton Institute of Politics Thursday, Dec. 10, at 5 p.m.

Formerly an associate dean at Rutgers, Mappen will explore some of the more amusing – as well as some of the less well-known – anecdotes from the Garden State’s past, including the 1919 gubernatorial election/Prohibition battle that pitted a “wet” Democrat against a “dry” Republican; the Halloween eve radio broadcast that frightened a nation; and a congressman’s cold that changed American history.

Mappen’s work has appeared in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times and New Jersey Heritage, among other publications. He is also the co-editor of the award-winning Encyclopedia of New Jersey.