Erin Roll

It’s Dangerous to Go Alone: How Link relies on his allies

Saving Hyrule from Ganondorf, Calamity Ganon, flooding, and generally going to rack and ruin once every few centuries is a pretty big job. And it’s far too big for one Hylian to accomplish all on his own. Link is the hero in The Legend of Zelda…

The 10 absolute hardest Ancient Shrines in Breath of the Wild

In a previous piece, we talked about what may be the ten easiest Ancient Sheikah Shrines in Breath of the Wild: shrines that are easy enough for the most novice player, and yet interesting enough to keep experienced players entertained as well. Now,…

Everything New is Old Again: How Breath of the Wild is a “modern day” Zelda game

The Legend of Zelda games, in general, have the appearance of being a long-ago fairy tale. But what would a Zelda game look like if it were set in a time closer to our own? It seems that a lot of fans like to imagine what it would be like if “once…

Montclair writer takes on a 1922 crime and its tabloid coverage

It was the stuff that tabloid dreams are made of. One morning in New Brunswick in 1922, a man and woman were found shot to death near a footpath. One of them was the Rev. Edward Hall, the rector of St. John the Evangelist Church. The other was…

Montclair High School classes catching up on reunions delayed by COVID

The COVID-19 pandemic caused many celebrations — weddings, proms, birthday parties, graduations — to be postponed, modified or canceled altogether in 2020 and 2021. That applied to high school reunions as well. But now, several of Montclair High…

Acting AG: ‘When rights are under attack, everybody should feel afraid’

“Abortions are not going to stop happening because of what the Supreme Court says about Roe,” acting state Attorney General Matthew Platkin said to an audience at Temple Ner Tamid earlier this month. “They’re just going to become less safe for…

Music, merriment, a message of solidarity: Montclair’s first Pride Festival

It will be a celebration of the LGBTQ community and a party, with 115 tents, two stages, a beer garden and art displays, among other attractions, and will be capped by a concert at the Wellmont. It will have a full schedule of special events around…

Dealing with the ‘cancer dragon’ — children’s book takes on a tough topic

It was five years ago that a dragon flew into the lives of Montserrat Coughlin Kim and her family. Her husband, George Kim, was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer at the age of 44. “This truly blindsided us,” Coughlin Kim remembered. The couple’s…

After two-year hiatus, Art in Bloom back in Montclair

After a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Art in Bloom is getting ready to burst forth at the Montclair Art Museum again. Art in Bloom will take place from May 18 to 22. The exhibit will feature 41 floral artworks by local and regional…

Montclair Literary Festival 2022: 78 featured guests, 35 events over five days

The Montclair Literary Festival will continue its adaptation to the coronavirus pandemic this year, offering a program that consists almost entirely of in-person events May 5 to 9. The festival was forced to go virtual in 2020 due to COVID-19 and the…

Have a heart (container): How energy recovery has changed in Zelda

It is a situation that every Legend of Zelda player will find themselves in, without fail — you’ve taken a heavy beating in a major boss battle, or a bunch of minor enemies have gradually whittled your hearts down to almost nothing. And now, the game…

Montclair runners hit the road for good causes

for Montclair Local Long-distance running is a popular sport with many Montclair residents. This spring, some of them are hitting the road to raise money for causes that are important to them and to many others. Dr. Ed Gold, an orthodontist, will be…

‘Proof’ podcast — Montclair producer helps tell the stories behind murders

For Montclair Local Behind every murder case, there are stories: of the victim, the suspects, their respective families, the investigators. And those stories go well beyond the events of the actual crime, stretching out into the days before the…

Letter to Montclair baseball fan its recipient — nearly 30 years later

By ERIN ROLL For Montclair Local This is a story of baseball cards, sports fans and a letter that took more than three decades to arrive at its destination. In early February, Adam Schreiber and his family received a letter at their house on Parkway,…

The 10 absolute easiest Ancient Shrines in Breath of the Wild

The Ancient Shrines are some of the most important gameplay elements in Breath of the Wild. There are numerous shrines found throughout Hyrule (120 in total, not counting the DLC shrines), with each of them serving as miniature dungeons full of logic…

Fowl play: Cuccos, the most dangerous creatures in Hyrule

Beware: Read no further unless you want to be frightened within half a heart of your life meter. This is an article about the most dangerous, most terrifying creature in all of Hyrule. The Hinox? Of course not. The Lynel? Not even. Calamity Ganon?…

A call to community action against climate change, for sustainability

By ERIN ROLL For Montclair Local Melissa Miles had been feeling particularly anxious about climate change for the last few years. And the best way to address that anxiety, she told attendees of the Northeast Earth Coalition’s Acting Locally for a…

How Montclair students birthed a global network to help schools in Tanzania

roll@montclairlocal.news Two years ago, Amir Doctry and his students in the Global Citizens class at Renaissance at Rand Middle School began a unique project. Known as G.L.E.A.N., the Global Learning Exchange of All Nations, the project is a…

Little kids at heart: ‘Blue, Barry and Pancakes’ authors dish out madcap adventures

By ERIN ROLL For Montclair Local Jason Patterson of Montclair, one of the two co-authors of the “Blue, Barry and Pancakes” graphic novels for kids (and kids at heart), has a vivid memory of when he and co-author Dan Abdo were doing an event at…

Young filmmakers, screenwriters: Montclair Film wants to hear from you

By ERIN ROLL and JONI DOS SANTOS for Montclair Local Are you a middle or high school student who wants to try your hand at writing the screenplay for your own film? If so, Montclair Film wants to hear from you. For the last 10 years, Montclair Film…