Vintage Princeton | Princeton Magazine

Ralph Schoenstein

By Jordan Hillier

Ralph Schoenstein (1933-2006), a longtime Princeton resident, is remembered as a Renaissance man who brought excitement and passion to all that he pursued. An author, humorist, and beloved NPR commentator, Schoenstein grew up in Manhattan, the son of the Pulitzer Prize winning newspaper editor Paul Schoenstein. His first book, The Block (1960), written after he graduated from Columbia University, is a memoir of his childhood, including daily interactions with seven friends, all of whom lived around West 78th Street before World War II. more

John W. Chancellor

By Jordan Hillier

Today, Brian Williams is considered the epitome of the modern newsman/commentator. News legend John W. Chancellor (1927-1996) was the man to watch and the face of NBC’s Nightly News from 1970 until 1982. Chancellor represented American media across the globe. A foreign correspondent in Vienna, London, Moscow and Brussels, he kept the American public informed on the developing European Common Market. more

The “Old Town Topics” Building

By Linda Arntzenius

Photographs Courtesy of the Historical Society of Princeton

Still known to many in Princeton as the “old Town Topics building,” the imposing 19th-century brick edifice at 4 Mercer Street was restored by its owner, Princeton University, in 2013 and will see new use as apartments for faculty and staff on the second and third floors and office space on the first floor. The building had been empty since the Town Topics newspaper moved to its new location on Witherspoon Street in 2007. more