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ME�IA CIRC�S The Hall�Mills murder trial in ���� was both aresult o� tabloid sensationalism and a circulation�increasin� �eature o� it� This photo shows �ane Gibson� dubbed the ��i� Woman� by the press� testi�yin� �rom her hospital bed�
suspect in the murder . The opening of the case , after four years when she thought it was over , disrupts her life . The papers are convinced she ’ s guilty , and they go after her .
There were a lot of fascinating women in tabloid newsrooms in the ���s . Wehave an image of them being full of whisky-drinking men , and there was alot of that , but there were also women breaking big stories , running to crime scenes and bugging prosecutors , not �ust writing features . It was harder for women to break through at a daily paper , and the tabloids gave them a platform . �ayne hired and empowered some of these women , including �ulia Harpman , whose story I chronicle in the book .
Another fascinating character is the daughter of the murdered woman , a��-year-old who identi�es with the flapper culture .
IS IT TRUE THATTHIS CASE INSPIRED F . SCOTT FITZGERALD AS HE WROTE THE GREAT GATSBY ? An author named Sarah Churchwell makes the argument that the victims in the Hall-Mills murder case inspired the couple murdered in ��e �reat �at��� . There ’ s acharacter in �itzgerald ’ s novel named Buccleuch , which isalso the name of apark in New Brunswick , near the murder scene . And �itzgerald names the �ig Woman as one of his favorite characters in history .
YOU HAVE TWO CHILDREN , 3 AND 6 , A FULL-TIME JOB AND AWIFE ( JESSANNE COLLINS ) WHO ALSO WORKS FULL TIME AS DIRECTOR OF NEWSLETTERS FOR THE NEW
YORKER . HOW DID YOU FIND TIME TO RESEARCH AND WRITE THIS BOOK ? I essentially worked two fulltime �obs for four years . �ortunately , since ���� , Ihaven ’ t had to go into the Conde Nast of�ces , which has been life-changing . We turned a decrepit garage into anof�ce . My parents watch the kids two days a week and we have a sitter the rest of the time . It ’ s really nice to have a zone where I ’ m not around the kids , or the people watching the kids , while I write .
Ispent alot of summer �riday half-days going to the New Brunswick library , scanning several thousand pages with an app that converts to �D�s . The Cedar �rove Staples printed them out and I organized them into black binders . I also had research from alot of other archives — the William Randolph Hearst papers from the Bancroft Library ; alibrary in Lake �orest , Illinois , that had �oseph Medill �aterson ’ spapers ; Rutgers ; the state archives in Trenton ; the West New �ork public library ( �hil �ayne ’ s hometown ) and others .
It was really fun being up late in my of�ce , going down the rabbit holes of these archives . Instead of watching some current T� show , Iwas in my own historical world with my research .
YOUR BOOK SEEMS LIKE A NATURAL FOR A MOVIE OR SERIES . ANY CHANCE OF THAT ? The publishers are shopping it around . It was optioned four years ago . But everything seems like a period drama right now . And they ’ re very expensive to make , and with the streaming wars , these services are starting to spend a little less , so it ’ s atougher sell .
WHEN AND WHY DID YOUMOVE TO MONTCLAIR ? �essanne and I moved here in ���� from �ersey City . We had one child and wanted more space . Iwas born in �ersey City and spent my teen years in Montvale , attending �ascack Hills High School , and my parents still live in Montvale . We didn ’ t have any family in Montclair , but we had a network of friends and media connections here . We love Montclair for all the reasons everyone loves Montclair . It feels small-towny , but you don ’ t get bored too quickly because there are four different business districts . And it ’ s easy to �nd ahouse near atrain stop because there are �ve ofthem .
Igot my start in�ournalism at the North �ersey Media �roup . My �rst �ob in���� was at the South Bergenite , which no longer exists . �or a time , I even wrote some freelance articles for Montclair Magazine . ■
COURTESY OF HAR�ERCOLLINS
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HOLIDAY 2022 MONTCLAIR MAGAZINE