Former Gov. Kean Nominated for State Hall of Fame

Former New Jersey Gov. Tom Kean, of Bedminster, is one of many current and former New Jerseyans being inducted into the state’s hall of fame for 2013.

Kean, born in 1935, was New Jersey’s 48th governor, and has served as president of Drew University and chairman of the 9/11 Commission.

According to the Hall of Fame website, Kean is one of the most popular political figures in the state’s history.

Kean is one of many people around the state being honored.

Historical figures being honored are Alice Guy Blache, of Fort Lee; Aaron Burr, of Newark; Grover Cleveland, of Caldwell; Joyce Kilmer, of New Brunswick; Thomas Paine, of Bordentown; William Paterson, of Bordentown; Molly Pitcher, of Trenton; Elizabeth Cady Stanton, of Tenafly; Richard Stockton, of Princeton; Irene Hill Smith, of Woodbury; and Sarah Spencer Washington, of Atlantic City.

In the enterprise categories, nominees are Bobbi Brown, of Montclair, Raymond Chambers, of Newark; Fairleigh S. Dickinson, of Rutherford; Dorothea Lynde Dix, of Trenton; John Roebling, of Trenton; Mary G. Roebling, of Trenton; David Sarnoff, of Princeton; Dr. James Still, of Moorestown; Paul Volcker, of Teaneck; and Alice Waters, of Chatham.

In arts and entertainment, they are Alan Alda, of Leonia; Dizzy Gillespie, of Englewood; Whitney Houston; Ernie Kovacs, of Trenton; Nathan Lane, of Jersey City; Eddie Murphy, of Englewood; Joe Pesci, of Newark; Joe Piscopo; Brooke Shields, of Haworth; and Dionne Warwick, of East Orange.

In sports, the nominees are Rick Barry, of Elizabeth; Carol Blazejowski, of Elizabeth; Dick Button, of Englewood; Joetta Clark Diggs, of East Orange; Roosevelt Grier, of Roselle; Bill Parcells, of Englewood; Willis Reed, of Newark; Mary Decker Slaney, of Bunnvale; Jersey Joe Walcott, of Merchantville; and Sonny Werblin, of East Rutherford.

In the general category, nominees are Connie Chung, of Middletown; Doris Duke, of Hillsborough; Milton Friedman, of Rahway; L. Seward Johnson, of Newark; Norman Mailer, of Long Branch; John McPhee, of Princeton; Dorothy Parker, of Long Branch; Peter Rodino, of Newark; and Brian Williams, of Ridgewood.

What do you think of the nominees? Is anyone missing who you think should have been included?