In 2004, Montclair's Amy Edelman put herself out there in a big way. A widow (her husband had died in 2004) and mom with two kids, Edelman had been through dating service hell, speed dating, J-Date and blind dates galore. So she sent an email to everyone she knew, with this offer:
"If you refer a friend who ends up marrying Amy, she'll spring for a free trip for two anywhere in the world, worth up to $3,000."
The e-mail found its way to Montclair's Corky Siemaszko, who works at the Daily News. On April 9, 2004, the story of Edelman and her contest, along with a photo, took up a full page in the paper. Edelman's life changed from the exposure and the experience inspired the book, "Manless in Montclair: How A Happily Married Woman Became A Widow Looking for Love in The Wilds of Suburbia."
Edelman writes the story as fiction. The character, Isabel Ackerman and her experiences (like the time when she tells a first date that the restaurants in Montclair are BYOB and the guy comes out of the liquor store with a bottle of Stoli) are a hoot. Yet through the funny writing, you get a sense of Edelman's own pain of losing a husband through Isabel.
You'll recognize the building Edelman/Ackerman lived in as the Rockcliffe, and there are other Montclair references. To find out what happens, pick up the book, which unfortunately has a cover with houses that make Montclair look like Crisco.
Stoli's good vodka, no?