End of a era. Farewell Newark Star Ledger!

[Detour66]

Al Ristori

Sunday’s print edition was the official end of the Newark Star-Ledger, but during the last few years that N.J. newspaper bore little resemblance to the powerful largest daily in the state before becoming a victim of the internet.

I grew up on Long Island, and treasured the fishing column written by Frank Keating in the Long Island Press. That paper was part of the Newhouse family print empire which stretched down to New Orleans. Ironically, when I lived in Massapequa Park, a Newhouse was one of my neighbors, though I never met him there.

Decades later, while living in N.J. , I subscribed to that 15 cent newspaper which included a great Sports section that even had the baseball box scores for every Major League game except for those on the west coast. Picking up the Sunday edition as Tony Soprano did from his driveway was exercise as it was about as heavy as the N.Y. Times –and grew to over a million circulation.

Instead of having just the normal one outdoor writer, the Star-Ledger had one for hunting and freshwater fishing, another for salt water, and sometimes even a boating editor. When Bob Duffy died suddenly, I applied for the Salt Water column and with an extensive background of writing for Saltwater Sportsman, Fishing World and other magazines, was given that position which I enjoyed until the loss of advertising to the internet spelled doom for a newspaper that was a mighty force for almost a century. The last time I saw it the price was up to $1.50 for an issue with only a few pages and very little information. ****

A small craft advisory is up in NY/NJ Bight through Tuesday afternoon. The forecast is for northwest winds at 15-20 knots plus gusts to 30.

[Gerry Zagorski]

Sad to see it go, it was the highlight of many a morning as a kid.. Pouring a bowl of cereal and turning right to the fishing report section to see what was going on, then to the circular of your favorite sporting good store like Herman's and looking at all the fishing gear...

It also gave many kids their first jobs delivering papers .. Sunday's were extra hard since the papers were a lot more bulky, impossible to fold and it especially sucked in the winter.. Collection days were always the best, envelopes of cash and hopefully a little extra tip. Simpler times for sure....

I had the good fortune of meeting and fishing with Al Ristori later in life. Such a treat to fish with a legend who had a wealth of knowledge, many stories and such a contagious laugh. I can still see that old battle torn dark blue Penn logo jacket he always wore. Man, if that jacket could talk...

[bulletbob]

I always turned right to the sports pages as well,and was disappointed on the days when the fishing reports were absent..also seem to remember that the party boats would advertise there as well at times,as the NY boats did at times in NYC papers in the day when they had outdoor writers. A different and much more simple time,that I sometimes wish we could return to.

[Capt. Debbie]

I remember Al Ristori's stories in the Star Ledger and the long deceased Elizabeth Daily Journal. That one I actually sold at the Singer Sewing Machine Plant growing up in Elizabeth. he was in every week with reports including crabbing.

All gone just like our Whiting. :(

[Detour66]

As a kid I always looked forward to reading the Friday Star ledger with it's big write up of fishing reports. They were more real time than most today since most fishing magazines are last weeks reports. Then my Grandfather and I would decide were we where going fishing that weekend unless we were going out to the east end on Long Island. They were good solid informative reports not just bragging about the fish you caught. I certainly miss them days and the friends and family I fished with. And believe me we had fun and adventure. Way to many great stories to tell but the memories live on. Tight lines!

[Gerry Zagorski]

also seem to remember that the party boats would advertise there

Yes and that's where I got all my leads for sponsors here :D

[Dclark2]

Papers like the home news and star ledger were good at their time but the papers changed their priorties and thats why i no longer buy those papers. They use to have fishing and hunting info but thats a thing of past. I love the NJFISHING.com and visit it daily. Its to bad they don't have a hunting WEB similar to that site.....

[Gerry Zagorski]

Papers like the home news and star ledger were good at their time but the papers changed their priorties and thats why i no longer buy those papers. They use to have fishing and hunting info but thats a thing of past. I love the NJFISHING.com and visit it daily. Its to bad they don't have a hunting WEB similar to that site.....

Thanks D... We happened to be at the right place at the right time when technology started to shift the model from print to online and had a lot of readers follow that shift. Problem is the papers didn't shift and their model was doomed because of the excess capital and overhead needed to sustain it. The paper got smaller, circulation dropped and it was a downward spiral.

I think the most profound change this and other sites like it, compared to papers is we provided a public sandbox for people to play and post their own content, opinions, have conversations which created a community.

Like any sandbox, there were some good kids and bad kids but if you did it right and held the community to a higher standard, the bad kids were forced out.

I'd like to think, at least around here, we try and focus on the quality of people who post, not quantity. In the the long haul, I think that's the right way to build a friendly sandbox and community.

[hammer4reel]

Papers like the home news and star ledger were good at their time but the papers changed their priorties and thats why i no longer buy those papers. They use to have fishing and hunting info but thats a thing of past. I love the NJFISHING.com and visit it daily. Its to bad they don't have a hunting WEB similar to that site.....

Nj woods and waters is a decent hunting site

[togzilla]

I remember Al Ristori's stories in the Star Ledger and the long deceased Elizabeth Daily Journal. That one I actually sold at the Singer Sewing Machine Plant growing up in Elizabeth. he was in every week with reports including crabbing.

All gone just like our Whiting. :(

I remember waiting for the Friday edition so I could read Al Ristori's fishing updates. It was those articles that coined him the nickname "Al Fishstori"

[Wilson]

I liked reading Howard Brant, he focused on freshwater.
35 cents, 50 on Sundays. RIP
Glad I was old enough to retire from the printing industry before it was swallowed up by screens.

[Lido-Gambler]

Capt. Al, Howard Brant and Matt Grobert were all "must reads" and I can say had an influence on me becoming an outdoor writer was well. Time moves on. Sad

[AndyS]

I actually met Howard Brandt and Al Ristori at the banquet the State threw for the Skillful Angler Awards. Back in the day it was the only fishing info we got. I did make Howard's "bragging board" a few times. Then came the New Jersey Fish Finder magazine followed by the Fishermen magazine.

[jbigtime]

I think my parents subscribed to the Star Ledger just to see me read something! Salt got in by blood early and I eagerly consumed every column Al Ristori wrote (I still read his blog!). I especially enjoyed when they published the party and charter boat advertisements. Simple things like this fueled my curiosity and allowed me to dream about what it would be like to get out on all of them. When I got old enough to drive I started going out on party boats by myself. I don’t know if kids can do that anymore with the price of fares, but at that time pizza delivery or fast food earnings went farther and I could get on the boat, buy lunch, tolls and gas with some money left over. One day we were striper fishing and Al Ristori maneuvered his boat a few yards from us. This caused considerable excitement and even some cheers. He smiled and waived. That’s about as close to a papal visit or seeing the Beatles as I’ll get…..is it spring yet??

[Capt. Debbie]

I remember Fishstory Ristori nickname too,. And the block Part Boat ads.


I remember waiting for the Friday edition so I could read Al Ristori's fishing updates. It was those articles that coined him the nickname "Al Fishstori"

[Duffman]

Truly an end of an era. I remember as a kid waiting for my father to get home from work on a Friday with the SL. I would read thru the fishing columns but especially pour thru the party boat advertisements. Looking what all the boats from LI, SHB, Hoboken, JC, and etc down the line to Point were fishing for, the sailing times and prices posted. Such cool stuff!!!

Internet put an end to all that. IMO the internet reporting will be the next thing ending. Reports have slowed over the years compared to what it was in the early to mid 2,000’s. Guessing most reports are passed around thru texts to friends more now than ever.

[Gerry Zagorski]

Truly an end of an era. I remember as a kid waiting for my father to get home from work on a Friday with the SL. I would read thru the fishing columns but especially pour thru the party boat advertisements. Looking what all the boats from LI, SHB, Hoboken, JC, and etc down the line to Point were fishing for, the sailing times and prices posted. Such cool stuff!!!

Internet put an end to all that. IMO the internet reporting will be the next thing ending. Reports have slowed over the years compared to what it was in the early to mid 2,000’s. Guessing most reports are passed around thru texts to friends more now than ever.

Yep true that. Seems like if you want to get a response from someone 40 or under, even your own kids, send them a text. I hear Instagram and Tick Tock are popular as well but this Dinosaur has enough screen time distractions already. That reminds me, I'm going to call my daughter right now just to torture her :D

[Duffman]

Yep true that. Seems like if you want to get a response from someone 40 or under, even your own kids, send them a text. I hear Instagram and Tick Tock are popular as well but this Dinosaur has enough screen time distractions already. That reminds me, I'm going to call my daughter right now just to torture her :D

So so true!!! My son and his buddy, who I have posted about here a ton in old reports are now both 23. I basically raised them on this site. Now they are avid fisherman of their own, but they did forget about it for 2-3 years when girls took priority. Both are killer beach shark kids. They crush monster fish in the summer but only share with friends. It’s a new era. And WE are old ass MFers!

[june181901]

I go back far enough with 'the Ledger' to remember the name Nelson Benedict who wrote an outdoor column. The sports section also gave good coverage to the Seton Hall basketball team from the 1940s on.

[FishnChips]

great paper back in the day i lived in kearney nj i had a paper route for this paper for 6 years as a teenager love to read al ristori reports every week

[Broad Bill]

End of an era that reaches well beyond the Star Ledger. Great newspaper at the time for all the reasons already mentioned. It was a time when life was fun and more simple, people had respect, no internet or social media meaning people God forbid actually socialized. Community meant everything, cities were safe at all times of the day and night, they thrived and were the heart and soul of everyone's life. Family gatherings meant something, people went to church, dad worked and mom raised the family. There was actually something called family dinner when the family sat down together and talked about the day. There were rules, family values, work ethics and consequences if you didn't listen to Mom and Dad. And fishing was beyond what today's youth will ever comprehend. I miss those days, the world was a much better place.

[Broad Bill]

New Jersey Globe should update their editing / spell check capabilities or they'll be the next paper being written about. "End of an ERROR", oops! I assume that wasn't intended as a play on words, article doesn't appear to suggest it.

https://newjerseyglobe.com/media/demise-of-the-star-ledger-end-of-an-error/