The punk legends slammed through 75 minutes of hits at a sold-out and raging Prudential Center Saturday night

Holsten's was featured in SNL's season finale. Watch video

The famed ice cream parlor known for being in the final scene of The Sopranos made another TV appearance this weekend -- this time as the backdrop for Saturday Night Live's final opening skit of the season about President Donald Trump. 

The sketch-comedy show featured Alex Baldwin portraying Trump sitting in a red booth at Holsten's in Bloomfield. A waitress hands him a menu as Baldwin, playing Trump, says he's waiting for some friends. Cue the music: "Don't Stop Believing," from Journey resonates in the background.

Baldwin is later joined at the table by Rudy Giuliani (played by Kate McKinnon), Michael Cohen (played by Ben Stiller) and Donald Trump Jr. (played by Alex Moffat).

Robert De Niro, playing Robert Mueller, also walks into Holsten's and sits in the corner as the group talks about the Russia investigation and China. 

"Look at us, Holsten's made an appearance on SNL! (This is not a political post, just cool that we were on TV, Holsten's is a building and does not vote)," the eatery wrote in a Facebook post. 

 Holsten's on Broad Street has been around for 78 years and is co-owned and operated by Rudi Stark and Gerhard Kaiser.

Karen Yi may be reached at kyi@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @karen_yi or on Facebook. 

Dogs and cats throughout New Jersey await adoption.

If you're interested in helping homeless animals but aren't able to adopt one, there are a number of other ways you can be of assistance.

Realistically, not everyone can adopt. People who live in apartments or developments that have no-pets policies fall into that category, as do people with allergies or disabilities that will not allow them to care for pets of their own. Adoptapet.com offers these suggestions for ways people who want to help can participate in caring for homeless animals.

* Help out at a local shelter. It's not glamorous work by any means, but it's vital and will be very much appreciated. You can do anything from help walk dogs to bottle feed kittens, help clean kennels or cat's cages or even help with bathing and grooming. Contact your local shelter to find out their policies regarding volunteers.

* If you're handy, you can lend a hand in many ways. Shelters usually need repairs of many kinds, so fixer-uppers can help out like that. If you sew, quilt or crochet, you can make blankets for your local shelter.

* Help out at an adoption event. Many shelters and rescue groups participate in local events by hosting a table with pets available for adoption. They also hold these program at malls, pet supply stores and banks, and can always use a helping hand.

* For galleries like this one and for online adoptions sites, often a shelter or rescue group doesn't have the time or equipment to shoot good photos of their adoptable pets. Something as simple as making yourself available to shoot and provide digital files of pet photos can be a big help.

* Donate. It doesn't have to be money; shelters need cleaning supplies, pet food, toys for the animals and often even things we don't think twice about getting rid of like old towels and newspapers. Every little bit helps.

If you don't know where your local animal shelter or rescue group is, a quick online search will reveal a number of results. It doesn't take a lot of time or effort to get involved but it provides immeasurable assistance.

Greg Hatala may be reached at ghatala@starledger.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregHatala. Find Greg Hatala on Facebook.

The annual 'Click It or Ticket' campaign handed out nearly 18,000 tickets to drivers in New Jersey last year, and 173 departments are participating in 2018

Later, rain - the baseball tourney opens on a glorious Monday.

Baseball: Delran at Northern Burlington on 5/4/2017 (Larry Murphy | For the Times of Trenton) Larry Murphy 

Baseball: Mercer County Semifinals: Hopewell Valley vs. Steinert on 5/15/2017 (Larry Murphy | For the Times of Trenton) Larry Murphy 

High schools from New Jersey celebrate prom 2018.

Photographers from NJ Advance Media are covering proms around the state. Check out the list below with our most recent prom photo galleries from the past week.

Be sure to check out our complete prom coverage at nj.com/prom.

• Cedar Creek High School
• Hillsborough High School
• Lower Cape May Regional High School
• Montgomery High School
• Penns Grove High School
• Pennsville Memorial High School
• Pitman High School
• Schalick High School
• West Morris Mendham High School
• Woodstown High School

Patti Sapone may be reached at psapone@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Instagram @psapo, Twitter @psapone. Follow NJ.com on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

School wins second in national jazz competition.

LIVINGSTON -- The Newark Academy won second place in the Jazz at Lincoln 23rd Annual Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival, held May 10 to 12 at Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center.

The competition is the culmination of the annual Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Program, a yearlong program that includes a series of noncompetitive regional festivals and the chance to perform at the competition.

The 15 participating high school jazz bands arrived in New York on May 10 and began three days of mentoring, jam sessions and workshops led by professional musicians. The competition wrapped up with a concert featuring each of the bands performing with their choice of a Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra member as a soloist. The final concert also featured a performance by the Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, whose members mentored the finalist bands.

The Dillard Center for the Arts from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, finished first and the Tucson Jazz Institute from Tucson, Arizona, third. In addition to the Newark Academy's second-place overall win, individual honors went to Cosimo Fabrizio, Outstanding Guitar; Teddy McGraw, Outstanding Drums; Allen Zhu, Outstanding Tenor Saxophone; Samantha Powell, Outstanding Vocals. Vikram Bala earned honorable mention for bass.

To submit school news send an email to essex@starledger.com.

A look ahead to the semifinal round of the girls lacrosse state tournament.

Cast your vote for the top track and field performance from the past week!

The defendant claimed it was self-defense but the prosecutors said the victim was shot in the back of the head.

Yesterday, Earnst Williams Jr., 27, was looking at at least another 40 years of prison time after being convicted of shooting a Connecticut man in the back of the head during a robbery attempt.

Today, the state's appellate court overturned his conviction and granted him a new trial.

Williams had appealed his conviction on an aggravated manslaughter charge in the 2012 slaying of 21-year-old Brian Schiavetti, arguing that the trial court hadn't let his attorney get into the details of past drug deals that would have supported his claim of self defense.

Evidence showed Schiavetti was wary about the secluded location for this deal as opposed to previous ones, and the court said it might have supported Williams' claim that the nervous buyer was the one who brought and pulled the gun.

Williams self-defense claim didn't sway a jury in 2015 -- perhaps partly because he testified in front of a large photograph of two bullet holes in the back of Schiavetti's head. Prosecutors at the time called it an execution.

At left, Ernest Williams Jr., then 24, of Montclair, testifies at his 2015 trial in front of a photograph of two gunshot wounds in the head of Brian Schiavetti, 21, of Connecticut. At right, photographs of Brian Schiavetti with his family are seen in the Newark courthouse at sentencing.  (Robert Sciarrino | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)
 

Contacted Monday, a spokeswoman for the Essex County Prosecutor's Office said her office is considering challenging the appellate court ruling in front of the state's Supreme Court.

According to the decision and coverage of the 2015 trial, Schiavetti and Williams were connected by a mutual friend, James Pitts, who pleaded guilty to a drug charge and agreed to testify against Williams.

Pitts, who knew Schiavetti from Villanova University, had sold the Connecticut man drugs several times before July 2012, when he put Schiavetti in contact with Williams, the decision said.

The first deals occurred at Palisades Center Mall in West Nyack, New York, but Williams refused to meet there and insisted Schiavetti come to Montclair for the drug deal that would turn out to be fatal, the decision said.

Schiavetti and a friend drove the 90-minutes to Montclair and picked up Williams, driving him to a building where he said his girlfriend lived, though he admitted at trial it was a lie.

The friend testified that Schiavetti and Williams went in the building together and two gunshots followed soon after. He told the jury he drove away in a panic after Schiavetti didn't answer his cell phone.

Prosecutors alleged that Williams never had any drugs, and lured Schiavetti to the building with the intention of robbing him of the $900 he brought. Schiavetti was found with $500 in his pocket, and Williams' cousin told police she saw him counting $400 and overheard him talking about a robbery later that day. Other witnesses testified that Williams had said he planned to rob him from the start.

Williams testified that he retrieved the drugs inside the building and Schiavetti pulled the gun. He said they tussled and he bit Schiavetti on the hand before getting partial control of the gun and firing several times. He testified that he threw the gun away and sold the drugs, collecting the $400 from that sale, the decision said.

There was evidence of the bite, the decision said.

The appellate court said that there was evidence Schiavetti was nervous about the location for the transaction, including text messages, and the judge should have allowed Williams' attorney to cross-examine the friend about the way the past drug deals had gone down as part of that evidence.

The appellate court said the public nature of the past deals certainly doesn't prove Schiavetti brought the gun, but said Schiavetii's state of enhanced vigilance, stemming from the drug transaction out of public view, was somewhat supportive of the defense that [he] brought a gun to the sale."

The court also noted that the judge gave too much weight to Williams' extensive criminal record when sentencing him to 50 years in prison. That was after a jury convicted him of aggravated manslaughter and several other charges, but did not convict on the first-degree murder charge.

If the case goes to trial again, Williams is taking a risk. If the prosecutor again asks the jury to find on a charge of first-degree murder, he could be convicted of the most serious charge and end up facing a life sentence.

Rebecca Everett may be reached at reverett@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @rebeccajeverett. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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30 N.J. softball alums and how they did in the NCAA Regionals.

Vincent Santorella, a graffiti artist in the Ironbound section of Newark, has been painting murals on the walls of businesses that haven't been tagged with graffiti.

Hector Garcia had doubts about the pitch from a graffiti artist, who, unbeknownst to him, had once tagged property in the Ironbound section of Newark.

Vincent Santorella promised to paint a mural on the side of Garcia's store, Station Wines & Liquors, and he guaranteed that no one would deface it because he knew the graffiti writers in the area.

Garcia didn't have anything to lose, considering the grass-roots Ironbound Community Corp. offered to pay for the work with a grant. Garcia and his aunt, Behatriz Garcia, who owns the store that he manages, welcomed the gift. They already had spent at least $1,000 to paint over graffiti tags -- a stylized signature --  on their building and it didn't solve the problem. Their wall would get marked up again, so why not give Santorella a shot?

"Let's see how much clout you have out there,'' Garcia said.

Apparently, a lot.

MORE: Recent Barry Carter columns  

Nearly two years later, no one has messed with the mural or any others that Santorella, 30, has done with the help of graffiti artists he brings to Newark from around the state and country.

Hector Garcia doesn't want to jinx the respect, but he's stunned that the wall has remained clean. The mural, which Santorella created with Dianelle Mastrion, a muralist from Brooklyn, has become a neighborhood attraction. People stop to take pictures of the colorful woman on the wall, who is looking across Hermon Street, her large face spray-painted in an array of shades to represent Newark's diverse population.

The city skyline is in the palm of her hand. Waves splash against the canvas and her fingers, a representation that Newark's ethnic culture keeps it buoyant, Santorella explains.

Across the East Ward, Santorella is confident that his "no-tag" guarantee will stick.  As an incentive, Santorella assists business owners with getting a summons dismissed when a code enforcement officer mistakenly identifies his work as a graffiti tag and not a mural.

He developed a relationship with Tommy McDonald, manager of code enforcement, who said business owners should not worry when Santorella's work is on their property.  That's good news for Yemi Ojikutu, who has one of Santorella's murals on his business -- Subrina's Tropical Food.

"If he (Santorella) does the work and I know about it, my team will know (not to) touch it,'' said McDonald, who thinks highly of what the artist is doing. "It (the artwork) really does stop people from tagging and doing all kinds of crazy stuff.''

The graffiti community is small. When they see a nice mural done by one of their own, it won't get vandalized, said "Emo,'' a 36-year- old artist from Rahway, who knows Santorella and has been in the graffiti game for 30 years.

"For so long we've been outcast,'' he said. "Now graffiti is slowly becoming accepted.''

Santorella's public approval started five years ago when he met Daniel J. Wiley, a former graffiti writer who grew up in the Ironbound.

As a community organizer for the Ironbound Community Corp., Wiley said he'd been getting complaints about graffiti tags from residents. Santorella, unfortunately, happened to be one of them, until Wiley convinced him to do murals.

The first one -- a painting of the late Maya Angelou -- appeared on a diner at Christie and Ferry streets. But then Santorella saw a desolate alley that had become the decadent spot for everything from illegal dumping to drug use.

With a grant from ICC, Santorella brought in dozens of artists to paint murals on the back of garages and buildings in that alley, which is known as the "Allery.'' That's when the mural idea took off. After five years, the artwork there -- at Cortland Place between Ferry and Horatio streets -- remains untouched.

"That is a perfect example of what street art can do,'' said Wiley, who is now ICC's housing justice manager.  "The reduction in vandalism and graffiti on walls has gone down drastically in the neighborhood.''

People walk through the Allery with no problem and appreciate the work. Last week, Walter Kozdron Jr. was admiring a veteran-themed mural painted on the wall of the Howard F. Schwartz American Legion Post 408. Kozdron, a post member, said the mural has been there two years and no one scrawls on the fighting soldiers or the American flag draped around Uncle Sam.

Santorella's elevator speech to business owners is simple when asking to decorate their property: "Give me a chance to make it look better than it does now.''

Some agree, some don't. He does the majority of it for free, using money he's earned from other art projects. Artists who know him volunteer their time. Instead of tagging a building, Santorella said, they can showcase their talent on walls he has permission to paint.

The images they create are wide-ranging. It could be an artist's name intricately written or an array of abstract art pieces on a 300-foot-long wall that belongs to a trucking company on Paris and Magazine streets.

Last Friday, Emo, Santorella and two other artists were updating a section of the wall, painting the Homer Simpson family.

Carlos Negroni, a foreman at Truck King International, said people stop to take pictures. Some of them, he said, are artists. He can tell by the dialogue as they talk about style.

Some walls have themes, such as the Stars and Stripes patriotism at Jefferson and Thomas streets. Down the block is a hip-hop zombie theme, with a caricature on a turntable. On Margaretta Street and Wilson Avenue, the pink wall with a menacing gorilla is about beating cancer.

"Vinny took control of the whole project of wanting to beautify the neighborhood,'' Wiley said.

For many years, however, that wasn't the case. Santorella admits to vandalizing property with his tag as an Essex County teenager.  His graffiti name, "Losto" or "Get Lost a lot," was a reflection of his life in Belleville, Nutley, Bloomfield and Newark.

MORE CARTER: She helps lift her classmates higher and wins Princeton Prize in race relations | Carter

He didn't want to be home whenever his parents fought or got high, he said. From ages 14 to 18, he wandered the streets with an aerosol can, staying out until 5 a.m. tagging walls. Santorella said he wised up after getting arrested. Instead of jail time, the judge gave him probation and fined him $3,500.

"I had to make a turn,'' he said.

Santorella obtained his General Educational Development diploma, then an associate's degree in business management from Hudson Community College. As he began to channel his skill into art, Santorella still dabbled with tagging as a way to market himself. He eventually let that go and landed gigs with nonprofit organizations, schools and community groups. He does logos and design work.

Now he has his own paint store to supply paint for artists, and he's working on formalizing a nonprofit, Downeck Arts Collective.

For too many years, Santorella said, he was the problem, but it's time to give back. Jokarly Fernandez, owner of Yuca Grocery, is grateful. He couldn't afford to replace his awning. Santorella painted a mural on it for free.

"Losto" doesn't  "Get Lost a Lot'' anymore.

He has direction.

"Vinny is cleaning up his mess,'' Wiley said.

In a big way, too. Check him out on June 9. He's throwing a block party and has 30 artists coming to repaint the Allery with new work. ICC is doing neighborhood cleanup, too.

A block away on Ferry Street, Santorella has a new building that needs his talent that day. He says it will stay tag-free like the rest of his work.

Guaranteed.

Barry Carter: (973) 836-4925 or bcarter@starledger.com or 

nj.com/carter or follow him on Twitter @BarryCarterSL

Georgia King Village, a private low-income housing complex in Newark, is upgrading its apartments.

On a warm day at Georgia King Village, families gathered around red picnic tables with baby strollers and their kids' toys. Parents watched as their children played in the new playground on the basketball courts while older residents challenged each other to a game of chess. 

"It's been a whole lot of change," said Denise Henryel, a 17-year resident of Georgia King Village in Newark, as children ran in the nearby playground. "Back in the day, we had to look and say who is he running from? It used to be something."

Georgia King Village often made headlines for its shootings, burglaries and violent crime. But on a recent Monday, the conversation among residents was about change.

L+M Development Partners and Prudential Center have invested $9 million in the sprawling low-income complex since purchasing it in 2016, adding 200 security cameras, a perimeter fence, 24-hour security and a children's library. 

It's latest addition -- and a rare amenity for low-income housing -- is free Wi-Fi for residents.

Last week, 272 residents in the two 18-story towers were given passwords to access their free wireless internet connection, provided by Newark Fiber, the city's high-speed fiber optics network. Wifi will be installed at the 144 townhouses by next year. 

The two towers at Georgia King Village in May 2018.Karen Yi | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com 

"For a lot of folks, access to the internet means access to employment," said Mekaelia Davis, director of corporate giving for Prudential. "It's not only going to bridge the digital divide, we're saving people $80-$100 a month. That's more money for groceries, more money for day care." 

Prudential paid a $250,000 grant to build the infrastructure to bring free Wi-Fi to the property. Officials said there's no plan to have residents pay for Wi-Fi in the future. 

"A lot of people see the change and say, 'Wow,'" resident Lourdes Cuevas said in Spanish. She says she has no internet or cable and is "very happy" to have Wi-Fi installed and be able to stream shows. But she also pointed to other improvements on the property, reflecting on her 26 years living there.

"The kids can be outside, there's no more (open air) drug sales. Everything is cleaner, more orderly," she said. 

The 1,030 residents at the 422-unit low-income complex in the West Ward have heard the same promises from a revolving door of new management companies over the years. But those dusty pledges are finally coming to fruition. 

"We're heavily invested in Newark," said Jeffrey Moelis, director of development, preservation for L + M. "We're not going anywhere." L+M Development Partners and Prudential purchased the property in May 2016 for $20 million. 

Since then, 90 units have been renovated and the number of vacant apartments has dropped from 80 to 15. Half of the units are under a 20-year Section 8 contract with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (since March 2018) and another 75 are subsidized by the Newark Housing Authority (a 15-year contract), Moelis said. Residents pay about 30 percent of the total rent. 

Moelis said upgrading Georgia King Village "requires a significant amount of resources" and owners with the money and willingness to make needed repairs.

As the city welcomes new investment and development after decades of stagnation, the need for Newarkers to find affordable and livable homes is higher than ever, the complex's owners say. 

"People in Newark want to stay in Newark," Davis, of Prudential, said. "If you provide that space and ownership, they'll take it." 

Hector Corchado, a former police officer in Newark, works as the regional director of security for L +M. He said management completed about 600 work orders in the first nine months, changed apartment locks and started to gain the trust of the community. 

"It's been a transformative experience," he said. "The fact that you can live in a property that's safe and affordable that's rare in Newark."

Low-income projects in Newark are often at the center of tenant-landlord disputes over decrepit conditions. Moelis is hoping to create a space that residents consider home, partnering with the community to offer services and amenities that residents need. 

Georgia King Village resident Larry Oliver with Sgt. Henry, who works for the building's 24-hour security team. Karen Yi | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com 

"Anything you deal with that has the word free is a good thing," resident Larry Oliver, 35, said of the free Wi-Fi. "We don't got to pay for cable anymore," he said, because now residents will be able to stream their favorite TV shows online. 

Oliver, though, said he still had a request of management: What are the chances of central air conditioning? 

Karen Yi may be reached at kyi@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @karen_yi or on Facebook. 

Find out who NJ Advance Media thinks will make it to the sectional finals.

Highlighting all the best action from the state tournament so far.

Doubles, triples and even a quadruple gold winner highlighted some great performances at the 2018 track and field county championships.

For the first time in 22 years, the Newark School Board on Tuesday selected its own schools chief, choosing a longtime district administrator to be the new superintendent.

For the first time in 22 years, the Newark School Board on Tuesday selected its own schools chief, choosing longtime district administrator Roger Leon to be the new superintendent.  

Leon will lead the largest school district in New Jersey, months after the state returned the reins of the district to the local board. The board unanimously voted to extend Leon an offer of employment, but still needs to negotiate his contract. 

Roger Leon speaking to the public on Friday night, during a forum for the superintendent candidates. Karen Yi | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com 

A 25-year veteran of the district, Leon was one of four finalists selected by the superintendent search committee. Also on the shortlist: Interim Superintendent Robert Gregory, Chief of Schools for Nashville Public Schools Sito Narcisse and former CEO of Baltimore Schools Andres A. Alonso.

"I have lived the full spectrum of the city," Leon said during a candidate forum on Friday. "I have lived through what it was, struggled and fought through it became and will continue to implement what it has the potential to become."

In February, the state returned control of Newark schools to the locally elected board after taking control in 1995, citing a culture of corruption and underperforming schools. The district remains on a two-year transition plan and must meet certain milestones through 2020, including selecting a new superintendent by the end of the month.

The return of local control stripped the board's advisory title and empowered it to hire and fire its own superintendent. Under the state takeover, it was up to the education commissioner to appoint a Newark schools chief who had veto power over the board. 

Gregory took over as interim Superintendent following the resignation of the last state-appointed superintendent, Christopher Cerf. 

Over more than two decades of state control, a revolving door of appointed school chiefs often clashed with the community. Parents and teachers largely decried the "outsiders" who were brought in to implement top-down reforms in the schools and rarely engaged with the community.  

"We're just excited to work with the new superintendent as we're going back into local control and making sure we're follow our transition plan," School Board Chairwoman Josephine Garcia said after the public meeting at Speedway Academies. The board deliberated for about an hour on Wednesday during executive session before picking Leon.

Here's video of the vote and loud reaction from crowd pic.twitter.com/2xUl0dkszo

-- Karen Yi (@karen_yi) May 23, 2018

While the search for a schools leader was national, two of the four candidates were longtime Newarkers who worked their way up through district ranks. During a finalist forum last week, it was clear the crowd favored the two locals.  

But members in the community were frustrated there was no opportunity to interview the candidates. Finalists were vetted behind closed doors with only one public appearance -- and no chance for community questions. 

High school junior Bradley Gonmiah, 16, said he was mad about "the short turn-around of time we had to find out who the candidates were."

"First off, we're not even voting for them in the first place. We're not given ample time to understand who the candidates are," Gonmiah, of Science Park High, said. "We're the main stakeholders; we're the main consumers."

Students stop meeting, take the stage. They are asking their voices be heard. I spoke to some of them before the meeting and they're upset they had no say in the Superintendent search process pic.twitter.com/jWphMF9Bni

-- Karen Yi (@karen_yi) May 23, 2018

Ibrahim Waziri, a junior at American History High School, said he wanted a superintendent who was honest and would support a moratorium on charter schools as the district faces a funding crisis. 

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Leon will face steep challenges in the 36,000-student district. While the district is seeing increased enrollment, it remains underfunded by the state (by $140 million). Many Newark schools ranked low on the state's new 1 to 100 controversial rating system that factors in test scores, graduation rates and absenteeism. 

Born in Newark, Leon attended Hawkins Street Elementary and graduated from Science Park High. He earned his Bachelor's degree from Rutgers University in biological sciences before returning to Hawkins to teach. 

Leon eventually served as a principal for 10 years before becoming assistant superintendent, his current role. 

The district will negotiate a contract with Leon by May 31; he will begin July 1. 

[Editor's note: This story has been updated with more information.]

Karen Yi may be reached at kyi@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @karen_yi or on Facebook. 

Philip Roth, the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and New Jersey native, has died, according to multiple reports. He was 85.

Philip Roth, the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and New Jersey native, died Tuesday according to multiple reports. He was 85. 

The New York Times reports the cause of death was congestive heart failure, according to a close friend.

Roth, who often employed his Newark upbringing as an anchor in his writing, was most famous for his novels/novellas "Goodbye, Columbus" (1959), "Portnoy's Complaint" (1969), "The Plot Against America" (2004), and 1997's "American Pastoral," for which Roth won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction.

A prolific writer, Roth penned more than two dozen novels between 1959 and 2010, in addition to numerous short stories, essays and nonfiction pieces that appeared in The New Yorker, Esquire, New York Times Book Review and many more publications. Roth's work was often defined by its semi-autobiographical themes -- most pointedly his exploration of what it meant to be a post-war Jew living in America, which often intersected with his memories of Newark -- as well as his blade-like and often dark wit, labyrinthian prose and exceedingly rich characters. 

Roth, who was currently living in Manhattan and Connecticut at the time of his death, was arguably the most significant New Jersey-born novelist of the 20th Century and many of his works are considered American classics. Roth is one of only a handful of fiction authors to have won two National Book Awards (for "Goodbye, Columbus" and "Sabbath's Theater," 1994).

Roth was born March 19, 1933 in Newark, and was raised in the city's Weequahic neighborhood, wedged between Routes 78 and 22. His parents were first-generation Americans who had immigrated from Eastern Europe. He graduated from Weequahic High School in 1951 before receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Bucknell University. He received his Masters in English Literature from the University of Chicago in 1955; around the same time he published his first work, in the Chicago Review. 

Roth went on to teach at University of Iowa, Princeton University and the University of Pennsylvania. 

In 2012, Roth announced he had retired from writing. In 2013 he celebrated his 80th birthday at the Newark Museum. 

Bobby Olivier may be reached at bolivier@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BobbyOlivier and Facebook. Find NJ.com on Facebook.    

Malcolm X Shabazz High School's students celebrated their prom The Westwood in Garwood.

Malcolm X Shabazz High School's students arrived for their prom dressed to impress on Tuesday at The Westwood in Garwood.

Prom-goers enjoyed the evening as they socialized, posed for photos and danced the night away.

Check back at nj.com/essex for other local high school prom coverage. And be sure to check out our complete prom coverage at nj.com/prom. 

BUY THESE PHOTOS

Are you one of the people pictured at this prom? Want to buy the photo and keep it forever? Look for the blue link "buy photo" below the photographer's credit to purchase the picture. You'll have the ability to order prints in a variety of sizes, or products like magnets, keychains, coffee mugs and more.

Patti Sapone may be reached at psapone@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Instagram @psapo, Twitter @psapone. Follow NJ.com on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Arts High School held their 2018 prom at the Westmont Country Club Tuesday night with the students dancing to the music played by DJ Brian Rodrigues. A red carpet walk off was held earlier at the school in Newark.   Be sure to check out our complete prom coverage at nj.com/prom. Arts High School 2017 Prom (PHOTOS) Arts High School 2016...

Arts High School held their 2018 prom at the Westmont Country Club Tuesday night with the students dancing to the music played by DJ Brian Rodrigues. A red carpet walk off was held earlier at the school in Newark.  

Be sure to check out our complete prom coverage at nj.com/prom.

Arts High School 2017 Prom (PHOTOS)

Arts High School 2016 Prom (PHOTOS)

Arts High School 2015 Prom (PHOTOS)

Arts High School 2015 Prom Gallery 2 (PHOTOS)

Arts High School 2014 Prom (PHOTOS)

SHARE YOUR PROM PHOTOS ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter @njdotcom and on Instagram @njdotcom. Then tag your photos #njprom. We'll retweet and repost the best pics! 

Check back at nj.com/essex for other local high school prom coverage. And be sure to check out our complete  prom coverage at nj.com/prom.

BUY THESE PHOTOS

Are you one of the people pictured at this prom? Want to buy the photo and keep it forever? Look for the blue link "buy photo" below the photographer's credit to purchase the picture. You'll have the ability to order prints in a variety of sizes, or products like magnets, keychains, coffee mugs and more.

Aristide Economopoulos can be reached at aeconomopoulos@njadvancemedia.com and you can follow him on Twitter at @AristideNJAM and Instagram at @aeconomopoulos  Find NJ.com on Facebook