John Dandola's West Orange History Connection •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• As a writer and historian, John Dandola has worked closely with museums both here and abroad, but he comes by his connection to West Orange history naturally. His Italian ancestors moved to town prior to 1890. The arrival of his Irish ancestors in the area predates The Revolution and it is generally held that at least one served as a representative in the region's colonial government. When his Irish grandmother was deemed eligible for the D.A.R. and invited to join, she chose to politely decline remarking, "I think I'd be more comfortable serving tea to those ladies than sitting and sipping it with them." It is her husband—John's maternal grandfather—who served as the model for his West Orange barber-turned-sleuth character. Like that character, he had also worked as a personal messenger boy to Thomas Alva Edison and even appeared in a 1913 photo with "The Old Man." John and his wife, Patricia (who he has known since they were eleven years old), live in a house commissioned by his family in 1923 and built by the grandfather of a high school classmate. Needless to say, John Dandola's roots in the community run deep and his vintage photo collection of the town is more extensive than any other—public or private. As an historian and therefore as an educator, John's newest concern is the internet because so much of the information found there is unchecked and unsubstantiated. This is particularly evident in the area of local history. John's advice is that if you need verification on any local history matter, contact a known expert in your area. Feel free to contact John with any questions about West Orange history or any of the subjects mentioned below. At the request of his publishers, his readers, and a great many New Jersey librarians, John has been repeatedly asked to undertake a proper, accurate, and thorough history of West Orange since none exists. That project has been delayed indefinitely until the current administration has left office (to find out why, click on "Author Interview" above). In the meantime, John has recently unveiled something he feels might be even more important: a local history geared for children. Entitled Greetings from West Orange, New Jersey, it debuted in May, 2006. Wikipedia Warning Open information systems such as Wikipedia (an online "encyclopedia") start off with all good intentions but allow people with little knowledge or training to come along at any time and ruin the content of accurate listings because they think it makes them appear superior and worse, yet, makes them think that they have been "published." The worst pest in this regard is someone who goes by the moniker "Alansohn." For someone who doesn't live in West Orange, "Alansohn" seems to think he knows more than the local experts but time and again he proves that he doesn't. Such individuals have even been known to change perfectly correct punctuation or belligerently demand unnecessary verification of plain, simple, well-known facts just so that they can post their names as having made a "correction." It is entirely too time-consuming to track down or reason with such offenders and the end result makes Wikipedia neither a very accurate nor a very reliable source for information. Unfortunately, it keeps spewing out across the internet. John even asked to have the listing about him deleted because it was made without his knowledge or consent. But trying to get unlisted is like trying to leave a cult. Wild and crazed suppositions and accusations along with spiteful remarks begin to appear online from the vigilantes who volunteer to patrol the site unchecked and unpunished for their behavior. How Wikipedia is allowed to exist with a perception of credence is astonishing. After nearly a month of enduring name-calling by Wiki-vigilante editors, Wiki-management finally removed the bio article about John. But using their usual childish-snit, let's-break-our-own-rules, throw-the-baby-out-with-the-bath-water mentality, the Wiki-vigilante editors proceeded to keep all the accurate information culled from John's very meticulous firsthand research about West Orange (although the Wikipedia entry of which drifts in and out of accuracy hourly), Joan Caulfield, John Hays Hammond, Jr., Marjorie Reynolds, Howard Dietz, Spencer Tracy, and the events surrounding the World Premiere of Edison, the Man but delete any mention that the sources were John's published works—the very works which have been relied upon by legitimate researchers, librarians, and historians. •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Author's Bio | West Orange Mystery Novels | Author Interview | The Present West Orange Outlook | Home Copyright © 2000–2008 John Dandola, Ltd. All rights reserved.

To learn more about these accurate West Orange titles, click HERE.

"Fact and fiction mingle in [Dandola's] third mystery that uses West Orange as a setting during World War II.... New Jersey readers don't realize how much history is in their backyards." "Jersey Ink" The Star-Ledger February 1, 2008.