Author Dan Gutman Recalls Ivy Hill Days

Ivy Hill's own Dan Gutman recalls a childhood of sports and games, which is no surprise to readers of his 98 books (and counting). Gutman, who is beloved by young readers for books that bring sports to reading, has been an avid fan since his youth. He recalls playing Little League for the Galante Giants, a team sponsored by longtime Newark business Galante Funeral Home.

On his website, Gutman explains that he writes so often about sports, because "it's the only kind of entertainment where nobody knows the outcome in advance." Many of Gutman's works take the main character back in time, to play ball with Jackie Robinson, Babe Ruth or even Abner Doubleday, credited with inventing baseball. Gutman says that he chooses these famous figures because they have an interesting story to tell.

As to why baseball, he jokes, "It's easy to write about baseball because there's plenty of time when the players are standing around trying to figure out what to do next."

Gutman went to Newark's Mt. Vernon School, from kindergarten through eighth grade, when he lived in the Ivy Hill Apartments. He "spent many hours playing on the courts at Ivy Hill Park," when he played on the Vailsburg High School tennis team. His family later moved to a house on Norman Road. Gutman graduated from Rutgers University, New Brunswick.

"Besides sledding at what we used to call 'Cameron Field' and going for ice cream at Grunning's," said Gutman of his childhood, "I remember every Sunday my family would go hiking around Washington Rock and South Mountain Reservation." 

He and family went to Turtle Back Zoo and skated at South Mountain Arena. One of his most vivid local memories is "getting my driver's license and making that treacherous drive up South Orange Avenue on the 'S turns.' They still scare me," said Gutman.

Gutman returned to his roots on Friday, speaking at a local library a short walk from Ivy Hill. The writer who "writes for kids who don't read," as one parent described Gutman, was welcomed home by readers, writers, sports fans and folks who simply wish the local guy well as he keeps writing, keeps making Newark proud to claim him.