Proofreading is not glamorous. The book comes in and I make sure it’s correct, consistent, and ready to publish. But sometimes a proofreading project is genuinely fun to work on. The Vanishing Hoboken series is one such project. One reason I enjoy it is that I spent my formative years just a few miles away from this city. This New Jersey city has been through many changes over the course of its colorful history, and the oral history project is an effort to document and remember the different phases of the city and the people who made it what it is. The Hoboken Oral History project is a project of the Hoboken Historical Museum and the Friends of the Hoboken Public Library, and supported by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

A talented editor, Holly Metz has the difficult job of transcribing and interpreting the audio recordings of the subjects and building simple chapbooks out of them while maintaining the narrator’s voice. The designer, Ann Marie Manca, creates chapbooks that bring out the personalities of the stories and their tellers through their beautiful design. Working with people who understand the importance of style in telling stories is another reason Vanishing Hoboken is so fun for me.

I am honored to be included in this important project.