Nutley High was great fun for me; made many friends while trying to stay academically prepared for college. Went off to Rutgers/Livingston College, New Brunswick, to study pre-medicine. After switching to psychology, then art and theater, I ended up working in the music business (my first love) and spend the next seven years trying to have a glamorous life, living in Manhattan and working for Columbia Records. The last thing I wanted was to settle down -- coming from a family of seven kids, I wanted independence and a freewheeling lifestyle.

I subsequently worked for NBC Radio, MTV, then USA Networks for thirteen years, where I attained a good measure of success as VP/Creative Services, overseeing all writing, production, and design of on-air promotional announcements for USA and the Sci-Fi Channel, and directing a department of about 30 people. Got big for my britches, then kicked in the head in a company reorganization in 1995, which forced me into freelance and consulting work, which I actually really enjoyed. But always the big shot, I traded my 401K fund online, riding the wave of the stock market swell and counting the days to my early retirement by age 49. The rest is...well, suffice it to say that I'm now quite a bit past that, and selling real estate seven days a week!

Older, wiser, and humbler, I've learned the beauty and value of living "the boring life." I now stop and smell the roses, and love my new hobbies of acting, singing, and communing with people. I've enjoyed doing community theater, and have appeared as Gertrude in "Hamlet" in Staten Island, The Angel in "Angels in America" in Nyack, NY, and have appeared in several variety/comedy shows in the Hamptons and in NYC, performing songs & skits with an ensemble cast. When Bob Penett called to talk about this idea of a Nutley "Half Century Club," I hopped right on board.

I'm still very close to my family, all of whom still live in the New Jersey area, except for my dear Dad, who departed us in 1996. In June, 2004, I lost my dear significant other of 10 years, Peter Katz, to lung cancer after a short three-month battle. Peter was a very special person who many members of the Nutley Half Century Club had the pleasure of knowing. He was kind, funny, lively, intelligent, cultured, and well-read. He was a 4th degree black belt, an expert skiier, and a world-class chef. He was a chemist, a jeweler, an ice cream shop proprietor, and for 18 years, a real estate broker who taught me the business. Peter survived the Holocaust, and lived a great life for 60 years. I'll never know anyone like him, and he'll always be in my heart.

Professionally, I still do some promotional writing and website production work, in addition to real estate. Besides this site, I have written and produced a few others, including my creative services business site, www.paulabrown.net, and my real estate business site, www.hudsonviewrealty.com. I have also created a section on my own site to commemorate the World Trade Center disaster of September 11, 2001, which I witnessed from my balcony in Union City. You can read my account, see photos that I took, and read personal anecdotes, commentaries, and other notes that friends and family members have shared with me, at www.paulabrown.net/WTC/911.htm. It was a day I'll never forget, and it took me months to recover. After all, I cannot get up in the morning, look out my window or walk into my kitchen without facing the site of the former Towers, and think of all the people, including a wonderful former USA Network coworker named Sandra Wright, who perished there. Let's allow this tragedy to teach us how to better appreciate and enjoy the ones we hold dear, and work hard to make sure our younger generations enjoy the peace, prosperity, and freedom we have known and loved in our own lives.

Thanks for letting me share a glimpse of my life, and I hope to learn more about yours!

Your pal,

Paula