In Montclair, Famed NYT Columnist David Carr Stood Out Among A Town of Writers

Montclair is a town “lousy with journalists,” one resident said. But among them, David Carr stood out.

“There’s really kind of a huge tribe of writers (in Montclair),’’ according to the resident, Allen St. John, an author who also works for Forbes. “David was certainly among the most prominent. He was one of the smartest. He was one of the guys we were proud to have representing us.”

Carr, 58, of Montclair, was a New York Times reporter and columnist, and is considered by many to be the preeminent media critic of his generation. He died Thursday after collapsing in the newsroom of The New York Times.

>>Read more: David Carr, New York Times Media Critic, Montclair Resident, Dies

St. John said he did not did not know Carr personally, but always figured he’d get the chance to meet him. Within the journalism community in town, writers thought of him as one of their own, he said.

Scott Stein, a senior editor of CNET and also a Montclair resident, echoed similar sentiments on Twitter: “I always found the presence of David Carr here in Montclair to be part of what drew me here. Even though I never met him.”

Carol Ann Campbell, a former reporter for The Newark Star-Ledger who now runs Campbell Health Media, a communications business, said she is thankful she knew Carr.

In an email, she wrote:

“Our children shared a school bus stop and we often talked about journalism -- a profession we both shared at the time -- as well as the book he was writing. I eventually accepted a buyout from the newspaper where I worked and David was thoughtful and understanding. He knew the challenges facing the industry and he understood the decision I made, but he also knew the personal cost of leaving journalism. David quoted me in one of his columns, but it was the kindness and understanding he gave me at the time that I remember most.”

Tom Moran, a columnist at the Star Ledger, who also lives in town, said he’d been friends with Carr for about eight years.

In a column Friday, Moran said he knew Carr from the “backyard barbecue circuit,’’ and described him as “a brilliant guy with a warm heart beneath a gruff exterior.”

In a telephone interview, Moran described Carr as an original thinker, who was exceptionally smart.

“While he wasn’t the kind of guy to pound to his chest about his conclusions, people listened carefully to what he had to say,” Moran said.

Carr was a family man, who really loved his wife, Jill, said Moran.

“It’s just a pity to think about it,’’ he said.

Arielle Eckstut, a book author who lives in Montclair, noted that Carr participated in one of her book events. “So smart funny generous the world’s a worse place,” she tweeted.

The Montclair Art Museum paid tribute on Twitter, too, as did Kevin Monaghan, a local journalist, who displayed a picture of Carr laughing with other parents, saying: “Montclair moms celebrate ‘14 graduation.”

Carr was called one of Montclair’s media luminaries, and entertained fans at a screening of Page One (the documentary about the New York Times) at the Montclair Film Festival. Baristanet also profiled Carr in 2011, according to Baristanet.com

Baristanet asked him if he was a part of the Montclair media establishment.

“These guys all have really busy lives and are working hard to get a film festival established in Montclair, and they’re not people who like are short on hobbies. So they’ve put a personal priority on it. And if my small part is I have to sit still for a Q&A, I am course and happy to do it.”

In that interview with Baristanet, he went on to say that Montclair is like Manhattan.

“There are people so much more important than me here,’’ he said. “And it’s part of the social contract that people don’t make a big deal out of it.”

On Twitter, Lukas Haynes of Montclair, said the town had lost another favorite son.

“Our hearts are with the family of this talented and humane journalist,” he wrote.

Patch.com staffer Jason Koestenblatt contributed to this story.

Photo: David Carr, third from right. Credit: @kevinmonaghan