Helen Pike:
Telling America's Stories

The Dish: Under Reconstruction!

No Calm On These Islands

December 23, 2008

Tags: Asbury Park, traffic, Coaster, Main Street

Ever read about an idea that looks great on paper, but on the street won't work?
We think that’s the case with the proposal to build traffic islands down the center of Main Street in Asbury Park, similar to those installed in Avon (more…)

There Was Something About Mary

November 29, 2008

Tags: Asbury Park, Mary Walsh, Jody Calendar, Mike Rafferty, Phil Huhn, Janet Mazur, Megan McCluskey, Chestnut Hill College, Holy Spirit

Mary Theodora Walsh lived large. She laughed often, sang with heart, and danced all night. Was it enough to stop the decline of public-service journalism? (more…)

What price democracy?

November 28, 2008

Tags: Ariana Huffington, Pro Publica, American Society of Newspaper Editors, Asbury Park, Star-Ledger, Bergen Record, PJ O'Rourke

It began with an 11/24/08 posting on my Columbia class listserv (first entry at left). I sent it out to a number of friends who are hard core about print journalism.
The reax? (more…)

Selected Works

Historical Fiction
Spirited Ladies of Liberty Street
"In the swish of a flapper dress, the smell of the potato mash or the shape of looks-just-like-it liquor bottle, the period details are superb." - Pamela Waterman, Mesa, AZ
Business
Crossroads of Commerce
Economic development
American Studies
Asbury Park’s Glory Days: The Story of an American Resort
"The collapse of American towns and cities is now so complete that our collective memory of why they existed and how they came to be is nearly lost. Helen-Chantal Pike's history of Asbury Park is a worthy, lively, and well-researched effort to correct this cultural amnesia." - James Howard Kunstler, author of "Geography of Nowhere".
Greetings From New Jersey: A Postcard Tour of the Garden State
“a Jerseyana journalist”
-The New York Times
Spiked Boots: Sketches of the North Country
“The new edition contains rare photographs and an insightful foreword by the author’s daughter.”
-Dr. Barbara Tomlinson, Princeton, N.J.
Tall Trees, Tough Men
This is basic history, geography, psychology, economics, and folklore all rolled into one top-quality volume.
-The New York Times
Regional History for Children
Greetings From New Jersey: A Workbook for Young Adventurers
"What a welcome change from the mass-produced generic texts with minimal New Jersey content." - Bonita Craft Grant, New Jersey Bibliographer, Alexander Library, Rutgers University
Local History
Images of America
Four volumes of illustrated history about New Jersey's North Shore communities.

Quick Links

Find Authors