Youngsters didn’t need a friend like Huck Finn to play in homemade forts, or ride railroad boxcars and sail down a river. They need not be rapscallions either or born in American literature.
For award-winning author and syndicated columnist Gordon Bishop, stories of his childhood escapades while growing up during the 1940s and 50s in Hackensack are captured in his 13th book, "The Hacky."
Though Bishop’s family lived in other Bergen County towns, it is the eight years (1944-1952) he spent in Hackensack that he holds so dearly. Born in 1938 in Paterson and the son of a wealthy business owner, Bishop spent a large part of his childhood (from Kindergarten through ninth grade) in a large picturesque home on Summit Avenue where he partook in numerous adventures with his older brother, Eddie. During this time of simplicity, children often had to make their own fun, and both brothers certainly enjoyed all of the offerings that Hackensack made available. Originally told as bedtime tales to his two daughters, Bishop decided to permanently memorialize his childhood stories by penning a book.
Hackensack native Gordon Bishop
"The Hacky" is a collection of eight true stories about Gordon and Eddie Bishop’s experiences growing up in Hackensack. All set in 1949 when Gordon was 11 years old and Eddie was 12, Bishop recalls the excitement of his youth with stories of sailing down the Hackensack River in a cement tub, going for walks on the rooftops of Main Street stores, and climbing up a seemingly scary tower at what was then the Fox Theater movie house.
Although from an affluent family, Bishop’s father, Charles, instilled in his sons the values of compassion and generosity.
"Even though we grew up rich, my father softened me to the fact that not everyone grew up like we did. He owned two butcher shops during the Depression and used to sell his meat at cheap prices for those who could not afford it," Bishop said.
The two Bishop brothers wound up reflecting their father’s generosity, as told in "The Hacky," to a lonely railroad gatekeeper by offering him a surprise present on Christmas Eve.
The brothers also understood the value of an education outside of the classroom, as their father had dropped out of school in the sixth grade.
Bishop said, "Although he was not academically educated, my father was very street smart and just knew how to make money. He wound up being successful anyway, proving that in this country, you can be whoever you want to be."
"The Hacky" tells of the Bishop brothers’ visits to the railroad yard to befriend the hobos who rode the railroads. "These visits gave me education because these men were traveling all over the country, and indirectly offered me material to write about," Bishop adds.
Little did he know at the time that he would be writing for the rest of his life. Originally interested in acting, Bishop attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts at the ANTA Theater in New York City from 1956-57. He did not pursue acting, however, and began a newspaper career in 1959 at The North Jersey Herald News as a reporter and columnist. Throughout his almost 50 year career in the industry, Bishop has filled his shelves with numerous awards and achievements.
Among his accolades, he has received eight Congressional Commendations, 12 National and 15 State Journalism Awards, including New Jersey's first "Journalist-of-the-Year" in 1986 from the New Jersey Press Association. He is the unprecedented five-time consecutive winner of the Scripps-Howard Foundation's National Journalism Award, the unprecedented four-time winner of the New Jersey Society of Professional Journalists (Sigma Delta Chi) Public Service Award, and author of 13 books. He has written, produced and narrated a dozen documentaries for public television.
Now a resident of Ocean in Monmouth County, Bishop enjoys writing his weekly syndicated column at the Atlantic Herald. He lives with his wife, Jeanne, and spends time with his two daughters Jennifer Spencer and Elizabeth Homer. His "partner in crime" Eddie passed away a few months ago.
Even though the book is based so long ago, Bishop said the stories can relate to all ages.
Though far removed from the Hackensack of today, Bishop will always be grateful for the memories that the city gave him.
"I spent my most impressionable and formidable years in Hackensack and I can tell you that I would not be the Gordon Bishop that I am today had it not been for Hackensack - it is my heart and soul and my inspiration…. I grew up carefree under the sun, having a blast. I know it sounds cliché, but it just doesn’t get any better than that!"
