David Wilson was born and raised in Neptune,
New Jersey, next to Asbury Park, and is a lifelong resident of the state. He became a Bruce Springsteen fan in 1975, after
the Born to Run album was released. His first Springsteen concert was Sept. 20, 1978, the second night of a three-night
stand at the Capitol Theater in Passaic, N.J.
During
the past three decades, he has seen Springsteen perform more than 30 times. He has attended shows in Asbury Park, East Rutherford,
Holmdel and Red Bank, N.J., as well as New York; Philadelphia; Cleveland; Austin, Texas; Jacksonville, Florida; London, and
Frankfurt.
Wilson lives in Woodbridge, N.J., with his
wife, Sandy. They own “Glory Days,” a painting by artist Kelly Sullivan that depicted the carousel at Asbury
Park’s Casino. The work, using her FingerSmears technique, was created at the Stone Pony in 2001. It was auctioned to
benefit the Alliance of Neighbors of Monmouth County, a group that aided victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Other works in their home include an illuminated winking head
of Tillie, the wall-mural image from Palace Amusements in Asbury Park, and a painting and picture frame of Asbury Park scenes
by artist Patti Kaufman. All these works were bought at auctions to benefit Save Tillie, a non-profit preservation group.
Wilson is a journalist whose career began at the Asbury Park
Press while in college. He was a pop-music writer the summer before and after his senior year and an editorial assistant on
weekends. He graduated from Monmouth University, in West Long Branch, N.J., with a B.A. in English and a concentration in
Media Studies in 1980.
After college, he worked for
the Millville (N.J.) Daily, Dow Jones & Co. and Bloomberg News. He also received an M.B.A. degree from Rider University
in Lawrenceville, N.J.
