Nick Acocella
{{Short description|American political journalist (1943–2020)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Nick Acocella
| image = Nick Acocella of Politifax - Hall Public Forum.jpg
| landscape = yes
| alt =
| caption = Acocella in 2011
| birth_name = Nicholas Acocella
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1943|02|07}}
| birth_place = Jersey City, New Jersey, US
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2020|06|20|1943|02|07}}
| death_place = Hoboken, New Jersey, US
| nationality =
| other_names =
| occupation = Journalist
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
}}
Nicholas Acocella (February 7, 1943 – June 20, 2020) was an American political journalist and author. He was the editor and publisher of Politifax, a weekly newsletter about New Jersey politics. From 2015 he was the host of the NJTV show Pasta & Politics.
Personal life
Acocella was born on February 7, 1943, at Margaret Hague Maternity Hospital in Jersey City, New Jersey, to Bartholomew and Christine (D'Orsi) Acocella and grew up in West New York, New Jersey.{{Cite news |last=Johnson |first=Brent |date=June 21, 2020 |title=Longtime Politifax editor and N.J. politics expert Nick Acocella dies at 77 |work=NJ.com |url=https://www.nj.com/politics/2020/06/longtime-politifax-editor-and-nj-politics-insider-nick-acocella-dies-at-77.html |url-status=live |access-date=June 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210628014852/https://www.nj.com/politics/2020/06/longtime-politifax-editor-and-nj-politics-insider-nick-acocella-dies-at-77.html |archive-date=June 28, 2021}}{{Cite web |date=2020 |title=Nicholas Acocella – June 20, 2020 |url=https://lawtonturso.com/2020/06/21/nicholas-acocella-june-20-2020/ |access-date=June 19, 2023 |website=Lawton-Turso Funeral Home}} He graduated from St. Peter's Preparatory School, went to La Salle University in Philadelphia, and spent his junior year studying in Vienna. He then studied English literature at the University of California, Berkeley before taking a teaching job at Indian Hills High School in Oakland, New Jersey. He also went back to graduate school, attending Stony Brook University and the University of Delaware.
He was married to Laura Eliasoph Acocella, with whom he had a daughter, Francesca Rebecca Acocella. He was previously married to The New Yorker writer Joan Acocella (née Ross), with whom he had a son, Bart Acocella. He died of cancer at his home in Hoboken, New Jersey, on June 20, 2020.{{Cite web |date=June 21, 2020 |title=Political And Baseball Writer Nick Acocella Of Hoboken Passes |url=https://patch.com/new-jersey/hoboken/political-baseball-writer-nick-acocella-hoboken-has-died |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200627013352/https://patch.com/new-jersey/hoboken/political-baseball-writer-nick-acocella-hoboken-has-died |archive-date=June 27, 2020 |access-date=June 17, 2021 |website=Hoboken, NJ Patch}}
Career
For a decade, he was the director of operations for News Election Service - "the only real job I ever had," he called it - a consortium established by the national networks and wire services to tabulate election returns.{{Cite news |last=Barnes |first=James A. |date=November–December 1993 |title=The Polling Business: VRS and NES - The Fusion Ticket |url=https://ropercenter.cornell.edu/sites/default/files/2018-07/51017.pdf |access-date=April 17, 2025 |work=The Public Perspective}}{{Cite web |title=Obituary information for Nicholas Acocella |url=https://www.lawtontursofuneralhome.com/obituaries/Nicholas-Acocella?obId=28735204 |access-date=2025-04-17 |website=www.lawtontursofuneralhome.com |language=en}}
In 1997, Acocella started Politifax, a weekly newsletter about New Jersey politics,{{Cite news |last=Stile |first=Charles |date=June 28, 2020 |title=The political wisdom of Nick Acocella |page=12A |work=Courier-Post |location=Camden, New Jersey |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/121490386/the-political-wisdom-of-nick-acocella/ |url-status=live |access-date=March 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230323194639/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/121490386/the-political-wisdom-of-nick-acocella/ |archive-date=March 23, 2023 |via=Newspapers.com}} and was its editor, publisher, and sole writer.{{Cite web |last=Peterson |first=Iver |date=March 23, 2003 |title=ON POLITICS; Politics in His Blood? Must Be From Jersey City |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/23/nyregion/on-politics-politics-in-his-blood-must-be-from-jersey-city.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211010064005/https://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/23/nyregion/on-politics-politics-in-his-blood-must-be-from-jersey-city.html |archive-date=October 10, 2021 |access-date=June 17, 2021 |website=The New York Times}} Initially a fax service before transitioning to email, an annual subscription cost $400 for 46 issues. The newsletter's design comprised a white background with letters in a simple black font. He initially covered statewide politics but later covered local politics as well.{{Cite news |last=Arnold |first=Laurence |date=March 7, 2000 |title=Hardball politics: Hoboken baseball writer publishes political newsletter |pages=B1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/121490519/baseball-and-politics-all-in-a-days-work/ B4] |work=The Jersey Journal |agency=Associated Press |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/121490485/hardball-politics-hoboken-baseball-writ/ |access-date=March 23, 2023 |via=Newspapers.com}} The large number of governmental authorities in the state, with 566 municipalities in 21 counties, led to a need for coverage outside of the state's daily newspapers covering the "little battlefields" at the county and municipal level. Acocella also wrote twenty books about baseball, of which he was a lifelong fan, with one book, The Ball Clubs, comprising a history of every major league team.
In 2015, Acocella started hosting a television show, Pasta & Politics,{{Cite web |last=Haddon |first=Heather |date=April 7, 2015 |title=Pasta and Politics: New Jersey Governor Chris Christie Debuts on New TV Show |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/BL-METROB-22858 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624201025/https://www.wsj.com/articles/BL-METROB-22858 |archive-date=June 24, 2021 |access-date=June 17, 2021 |website=The Wall Street Journal}} on NJTV,{{Cite web |date=February 21, 2018 |title=Breaking Bread and Talking Shop on Pasta and Politics |url=https://njmonthly.com/articles/jersey-living/pasta-and-politics-njtv-nick-acocella/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709190937/https://njmonthly.com/articles/jersey-living/pasta-and-politics-njtv-nick-acocella/ |archive-date=July 9, 2021 |access-date=July 9, 2021 |website=New Jersey Monthly}} where he would interview various New Jersey politicians while making pasta dishes;{{Cite web |date=June 15, 2021 |title=NJ PBS to air special memorializing Nick Acocella Wednesday |url=https://newjerseyglobe.com/fr/nj-pbs-to-air-special-memorializing-nick-acocella-wednesday/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210616041257/https://newjerseyglobe.com/fr/nj-pbs-to-air-special-memorializing-nick-acocella-wednesday/ |archive-date=June 16, 2021 |access-date=June 17, 2021 |website=New Jersey Globe}} the show ran for five seasons. Guests included Thomas Kean, Cory Booker, Chris Christie, and Stephen Sweeney.
Published works
- {{Cite book |last=Dewey |first=Donald |title=The Black Prince of Baseball: Hal Chase and the Mythology of the Game |last2=Acocella |first2=Nicholas |date=May 2016 |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |isbn=978-0803299399 |ref=none}}{{Cite journal |last=Edwards |first=R. A. R. |date=March 17, 2017 |title=Saying It Was So: Exploring the Black Sox Scandal |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/article/650056 |journal=Reviews in American History |volume=45 |issue=1 |pages=117–119 |doi=10.1353/rah.2017.0016 |s2cid=152179530 |via=Project MUSE|url-access=subscription }}
- {{Cite book |last=Dewey |first=Donald |title=Total ballclubs: the ultimate book of baseball teams |last2=Acocella |first2=Nicholas |publisher=Sport Classic |year=2005 |isbn=978-1894963374 |location=Toronto |ref=none}}
- {{Cite book |last=Acocella |first=Nicholas |title=The Book of Baseball Lineups |last2=Dewey |first2=Donald |publisher=Carol Pub. Group |year=1996 |isbn=978-0806517537 |location=Secaucus, NJ |ref=none}}
- {{Cite book |last=Acocella |first=Nicholas |title=The Greatest Team of All Time: As Selected by Baseball's Immortals from Ty Cobb to Willie Mays |last2=Dewey |first2=Donald |publisher=B. Adams |year=1994 |isbn=978-1558504219 |location=Holbrook, MA |ref=none}}
- {{Cite book |last=Dewey |first=Donald |title=The all-time all-star baseball book |last2=Acocella |first2=Nick |date=1992 |publisher=Brown & Benchmark |isbn=978-0-697-14594-9 |location=Dubuque, IA |ref=none}}
- {{Cite book |last=Dewey |first=Donald |title=The All-Time All-Star Baseball Book |last2=Acocella |first2=Nicholas |last3=Acocella |first3=Bart |publisher=Avon Books |year=1985 |isbn=9780380895304 |location=New York |ref=none}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://lawtonturso.com/2020/06/21/nicholas-acocella-june-20-2020/ Nicholas Acocella - June 20, 2020]
- [https://www.njtvonline.org/programs/pasta-and-politics/ Pasta & Politics]
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Acocella, Nick}}
Category:La Salle University alumni
Category:Writers from Hoboken, New Jersey
Category:Writers from Jersey City, New Jersey
Category:People from West New York, New Jersey
Category:St. Peter's Preparatory School alumni
Category:Stony Brook University alumni