Check out these South Jersey authors and the great stories they tell.
Tom Turcich
Books: The World Walk; Savannah’s World of Adventure
Haddon Heights’ Tom Turcich became only the tenth person to walk…you read that right, walk…around the world. And while it wasn’t an easy feat – his walk was interrupted twice by sickness and then the pandemic – he did make a new friend along the way, his dog Savannah, who he adopted from a shelter in Austin, TX, near the beginning of his walk. He details his seven year journey across six continents in his book, The World Walk.
And for younger readers, Turcich published a children’s book about a stretch of the walk from Savannah’s point of view, called Savannah’s World of Adventure.
Pam Jenoff
Books: Code Name Sapphire; The Woman With The Blue Star; The Lost Girls of Paris; The Orphan’s Tale; The Kommandant’s Girl; The Diplomat’s Wife; The Ambassador’s Daughter; The Last Summer at Chelsea Beach; The Winter Guest; The Things We Cherished; Almost Home; A Hidden Affair; Last Twilight in Paris
A New York Times Best Seller and Haddonfield resident, Pam Jenoff has been telling stories of love and history for nearly two decades. After a career in the State Department and a stint as a lawyer, Jenoff began writing novels set in the time of World War II, a time she became very familiar with when she was assigned to the U.S. Consulate in Krakow, Poland in 1996.
Shereen Pavlides
Books: Cooking with Shereen from Scratch; Cooking with Shereen – Rockstar Dinners!
Voorhees’ Shereen Pavlides has been helping at-home chefs elevate their dishes by making everything from scratch. Sure, it sounds intimidating, but watch one of her videos and you’ll feel ready to take on the kitchen. She’s also taken her hard-earned tips and tricks and compiled two cookbooks for you to add to your collection: Cooking with Shereen from Scratch and Cooking with Shereen – Rockstar Dinners!
Davon Loeb
Book: The In-Betweens
Medford’s Davon Loeb pens his experiences of growing up biracial in America in his debut memoir, “The In-Betweens.” The short, poetic essay details the Shawnee teacher’s childhood surrounded by the beauty of the Pine Barrens and feeling too white for his Black cousins, uncomfortably non-white during Black History Month in rural South Jersey and the only one half-white among his siblings.
Groark Boys
Book: The Meat Teacher Cookbook
You might recognize Matt Groark from his appearance on Gordon Ramsay’s “Next Level Chef” (he was on season 2), or from his larger-than-life BBQ tutorials on TikTok and Instagram, or maybe from the BBQ seasonings he sells or his position as phys ed and gym teacher at Washington Township High School. No matter where you’ve seen him, now you can keep his finger-licking recipes in your cabinet for your next BBQ. His cookbook is available in May 2025.
Dan Waters
Books: Boardwalk Babylon; Dunes til Dead; Shore Crimes; Barnegat Dark; Ship Bottom Blues; Threshold; Surf City Confidential, Shell Games
Daniel J. Waters brings the grittiness of the Jersey Shore of his childhood to life in his suspenseful dramas following the life and work of his heroine Mickey Cleary, as she hunts down criminals and serial killers along the beaches of The Garden State. His 2019 novel, “Ship Bottom Blues,” earned the 2020 Nancy Pearl Award for Best Book from the Pacific Northwest Writers Association. A former heart surgeon, Waters has also published books like “A Heart Surgeon’s Little Instruction Book” and “Threshold” inspired by his time working in the hospital.
Gail Priest
Books: A Collingswood Christmas; Soul Dancing; Annie Crow Knoll: Sunrise; Annie Crow Knoll: Sunset; Annie Crow Knoll: Moonrise; Eastern Shore Shorts
A professor at Rowan University, a playwright, actor, director and author, Gail Priest has a passion for women’s fiction – which you can clearly see in her collection of published works. Her Annie Crow Knoll trilogy spins a story of loss, grief, survival and the healing powers of friendship and nature. And she brings the romance back home with her latest release, “A Collingswood Christmas,” a story of two estranged classmates who have returned home to find some respite after their love lives took dramatic turns.
