Reflecting on life and suburbia

Many would agree West Orange is a great place to live but growing up in the 1960s, Mark Ehrenkranz, had a disdain for the town.

“All the houses looked the same,” he said. “Everybody was so concerned with how their lawn looked, keeping up with the Joneses. There was so much gossip. Everybody was so concerned with success. Competition. It kind of bothered me.”

Ehrenkranz attended Mount Pleasant and Pleasantdale Elementary Schools, Lincoln Jr. High, and Mountain High School. He was an honor student, played baseball and soccer at Lincoln and basketball and track at Mountain.

In high school, instead of writing a paper, he’d make movies.

“The teachers loved that,” he said. “It was a great experience.”

When he volunteered at House of Music in West Orange, he used his 8mm camera to shoot Meat Loaf recording his album “Bat Out of Hell.” The footage was destroyed in a fire in his basement.

But it was the experiences at House of Music, a recording studio where many classic albums were made in the 1970s and beyond, that made Ehrenkranz grow very comfortable being around talent.

“I was awestruck at first, then it became a job,” he said. “I treated people like people, not by what they did for a living.”

Ehrenkranz left West Orange to go to school in Michigan. Then he moved to Los Angeles and worked in the film industry. He moved back to New Jersey and has been living in Morristown.

“The Great American Suburban Experiment” examines the author’s upbringing in suburban West Orange and weaves in the story of the rise of suburban life in the Northeast where West Orange was one of the earliest suburbs. Development in the West Orange area began in Llewellyn Park, the first planned community in the United States, in 1857.

“I try to give historic perspective,” he said.

Ehrenkranz, who is 65 now, recounts the construction of highways in the area, including Route 280 in 1973, and how it opened the pathway for more suburban expansion.

The introduction of his book alludes to the song “Pleasant Valley Sunday” by Carole King and Gerry Goffin, who lived in West Orange. When Ehrenkranz moved to Los Angeles, he worked with Michael Nesmith of the Monkees who recorded the song. In the book there are numerous entertainment connections between Hollywood and West Orange.

Some of the other Hollywood names Ehrenkranz has worked with include Joel Silver, who is one of the most successful producers in Hollywood; Albert Brooks, actor, director, and screenwriter; and Julia Philips who produced “The Sting,” “Taxi Driver,” and “Close Encounters.”

Additionally, he’s collaborated with writers who wrote for “The Bob Newhart Show,” “Love American Style,” and “The Odd Couple.”

With that success, however, came addictions to benzodiazepines, cannabis, and opioids. He got clean at 25 and moved back to New Jersey when he had the opportunity to produce Michael Nesmith’s TV series “Television Parts.”

“I felt by divulging deep, dark secrets, people know they’re not alone,” he said. “I’ve been in recovery since 1985. I retired from the entertainment business a couple years ago. I’m an addiction specialist at a hospital. I work with folks and try to get them to recover from drugs and alcohol.”
In 2023, Ehrenkranz was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a blood and bone marrow cancer, which required many months of treatment. In fact, his illness became the impetus for his book.

“Honestly, I had written many screenplays and never wrote a long-form book. I needed something to do while undergoing treatment and in isolation for three months.”

Currently in remission, he added, “I’m doing great. A very treatable disease. Easy to be positive. It’s another spiritual awakening and an opportunity to become more comfortable with discomfort.”

In Ehrenkranz’s journey to understand the complex American Dream, he believes the answer is to help others.

“That’s the most-deepest form of fulfillment,” he said. “The essence is in the action. I’m going to help somebody. It might make me feel good. It doesn’t matter. There was an earnest spiritual connection. If one can integrate that into one’s life as early as possible, it’s a key to aliveness and peace.”

  suburbia, West Orange