You’re in fifth grade, and Rick Epstein walks to the front of the room to present. He begins to read his article and you don’t think that it is very good. He knows his writing isn’t good, but that doesn’t stop him. He is embarrassed, but he doesn’t care. The only thing on his mind is his next story.

As Epstein traveled into his young adulthood, he was always an adventure seeker chasing a story. Epstein hated being bored, so his friends would convince him to go on adventures.

“One time, I went from Seattle to Chicago on freights, took six different trains,” Epstein said.

From hitchhiking, to catching trains, to moving across the country, he was always looking for the next lead.

In 1977, Epstein landed in New Jersey where he took his writing career more seriously, joining the Delaware Valley News from 1977 to 1984. While writing about the area he discovered Delaware Valley Regional High School, where his children wound up going to school. 

He is the father to three daughters: Lana, Molly and Matheson. While fathering his daughters, he also held jobs at multiple different newspapers. After settling down, Epstein still found ways to keep writing in his life.

In the wake of getting let go from the Delaware Valley News and other smaller papers, he took on a job at Del Val as the media center’s commons paraprofessional from 2016 to 2025. 

“Mr. Epstein reached some of our students that might not have great relationships with other people in the school, and I think we are missing some of that around here without him,” Del Val librarian Tracy Miceli said. 

After finishing his run with journalism, Epstein took a job as Frenchtown’s tour guide.

With his knowledge of the town and the need to write more, he came out with his book “Frenchtown,” which was published in July 2023. He received a variety of positive feedback, so he decided to write a second book about Frenchtown called “More Frenchtown,” which was published in late 2025. His books are about the fascinating tales of odd historical facts most people would never know.

Now, as a retired journalist, he decided to take on a new project: a little souvenir book for the centennial of the Frenchtown school.

Although some would think Epstein has lived a full life of storytelling, he is far from finished with his craft.

“When you learn to write a news story, it’s like being a carpenter,” Epstein said. “You don’t have to be an artist. You don’t have to be creative. You have to be analytical.”