June 29, 2015
Mike Derer/AP
Joseph "Red" Mascara poses with an enlargement of the sheet music to his song, "I'm From New Jersey," in 2007.
Red Mascara, who lobbied for 55 years to make a song he wrote the official anthem of New Jersey, has died, The New York Times reports.
Mascara's granddaughter confirmed that he died on June 20 at his home in Phillipsburg, Warren County, at age 92 after suffering a stroke four days earlier.
Born Joseph Rocco Mascari in 1922, Mascara changed his name in the 1950s in an effort to help his songwriting career. He wrote the song “I’m From New Jersey” in 1960 after hearing that Gov. Robert B. Meyner had said that he wished there was an official state song.
He came closest to his goal in 1972, when the Legislature passed a bill recognizing “I’m From New Jersey” as the official state song. Mr. Mascara had hired a band to play it from the gallery of the Assembly chamber. But Gov. William Cahill vetoed it, telling reporters that the only thing worse than that song was hearing Mr. Mascara sing it.
“I know that New Jersey’s made fun of,” Mascara said in a trailer for a documentary about him. “But, you know, they made fun of Sinatra in the beginning, too. I just want to say to New Jersey, don’t give up. We’re going to make it. And I want to make you proud.”
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