Reporting Chelsea and the Chelsea Record
Local reporting, investigative recognition, and the collaboration behind The Chelsea Series.
Chelsea, Massachusetts · Reporting since 1977
Joshua Resnek
Author • Journalist • Storyteller
About Joshua
The Storyteller
Massachusetts Roots, Boston Storyteller
Author & Journalist
Born in Marblehead in 1950, Joshua Resnek moved to Chelsea in 1977 and began reporting for the daily Chelsea Record, starting a decades-long creative partnership with photographer Arnie Jarmak.
Resnek brings a journalist's firsthand experience to his work as a historian of Chelsea, Massachusetts. With photographer Arnie Jarmak, he coauthored Turbulent Years in Chelsea, Rugged, and The Last Seder in Little Jerusalem, preserving the people, neighborhoods, and changing life of the city.
He is also the author of the novel The Evening News with Walter Cronkite. In 2024, he appeared as Vincent "Vinny" Bellini in the Boston short film Mobston.
1977
Chelsea reporting begins
1996
Regional Emmy recognition
2024
Mobston screen credit
Upcoming Release
The Last Four Mayors
The Last Four Mayors
Volume IV: The Chelsea Series
The Last Four Mayors, the fourth volume of The Chelsea Series, examines the administrations of Joel Pressman, James Mitchell, Thomas Nolan, and John Brennan and the events that culminated in state receivership. Resnek's firsthand narrative is paired with Arnie Jarmak's black-and-white documentary photography to preserve a vivid record of a defining era in Chelsea's civic history.
Publication update
Expected in approximately 2–3 weeks
Copyright registration and official Library of Congress listing are in progress. The book is not yet available for purchase.
Published Works
The Library
The Last Seder in Little Jerusalem
Joshua Resnek and Arnie Jarmak
Framed by the Afromovitz family's final Passover seder on Fourth Street in 1957, this blend of memoir, social history, and Arnie Jarmak's photography follows Little Jerusalem through immigration, family life, faith, class, and a changing postwar Chelsea.
Turbulent Years in Chelsea
Arnie Jarmak and Joshua Resnek
Resnek's narrative and Jarmak's photographs document Chelsea from the late 1970s into the early 1990s.
Rugged
Arnie Jarmak and Joshua Resnek
The second volume in Jarmak and Resnek's Chelsea series pairs a first-person narrative with documentary photography.
The Evening News with Walter Cronkite
Joshua Resnek
A coming-of-age novel set from 1967 to 1971, following Jack Krivitsky through a country transformed by conflict.
Read More
Stories behind the books
Explore the Full Collection
Visit Joshua Resnek's Amazon author storefront to explore all his published works:
View all books on AmazonChelsea: Triumph & Tragedy
Explore the Resnek + Jarmak website for The Chelsea Series and their books about Chelsea.
Chelsea Series WebsiteChelsea & Boston
Chelsea History
A City's History, Lived and Reported
Greater Boston Storyteller
Chelsea, Massachusetts became the center of Resnek's reporting life in 1977. From the Chelsea Record newsroom, he developed an intimate view of the neighborhoods, immigration, politics, and resilience that shaped the city.
He remained based in Chelsea through 1991 and later served as a part owner of the Chelsea Record through 2012. The city continued to anchor his reporting, commentary, and books.
That connection is personal as well as professional. Resnek has written that his great-grandfather arrived in Chelsea from Russia in 1885, beginning a family history that still shapes his relationship with the city and its people.
Long before the newsroom, Resnek and Jarmak explored Chelsea as teenagers, stopping at the Resnek family drugstore before walking the city's streets. Their collaboration grew from that childhood friendship.
The pair later said they had discussed putting their Chelsea experiences into a book for forty years. In 2021, they donated copies of Turbulent Years in Chelsea to the Chelsea Historical Commission for free distribution to residents.
Today, The Chelsea Series books carry that reporting into local history. Read about Resnek and Jarmak's work as journalists and historians, or explore Arnie Jarmak's documentary photography archive.
Sources: Boston College McMullen Museum, Forbes interview, and City of Chelsea records.
Journalism & Recognition
A Career in Truth
Emmy-Award Winning Journalist
Reporter, Editor, Publisher
Resnek's journalism career spans more than five decades. His work has appeared in publications including The Boston Globe, The New York Times, and Boston Magazine.
In 1996, he received a regional Emmy Award for investigative reporting for a three-part NBC Boston series on the presidential pardon system.
He has been published widely for his reporting, commentary, and narrative work, bringing a reporter's eye and a storyteller's empathy to every project.
Regional Emmy Recognition
Investigative reporting • NBC Boston • 1996
Latest Writing
From the Writing Desk
Joshua's editorial stories remain available below.
On JoshuaResnek.com
Stories with lasting context
Joshua's reporting, local history, and personal storytelling remain available here as a durable part of the site.
Chelsea and Little Jerusalem
Immigration, family, faith, and civic change in the neighborhood behind The Last Seder in Little Jerusalem.
Joshua Resnek and Arnie Jarmak
The reporting-and-photography partnership that has documented Chelsea across decades.
Visit the Writing library
Read the complete collection of current and enduring editorial work.
Screen Work
Visual Storytelling
Video commentary • 2026
The Midterms Won't Save Us
The midterms may change the balance of power, but they will not resolve the deeper conflict reshaping American life. Joshua Resnek considers public disengagement, the limits of electoral victories, and the growing influence of wealth and technology.
Featured documentary • 2026
The Wrong Paintings
In 1991, investigative reporter Joshua Resnek believed he had found the masterpieces stolen from Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. He recounts the FBI, Boston's underworld, photographs of signed paintings, and the revelation that the paintings were real—but wrong.
The film includes cinematic AI-generated reenactments.
Boston short film • 2024
Mobston
Joshua Resnek plays Vincent "Vinny" Bellini, one of the story's two central figures, in the Boston short film Mobston, extending his storytelling from the page and newsroom to the screen.
Get in Touch
Contact
Reach Joshua Directly
For press, speaking engagements, book inquiries, or story tips, call or write any time.
- Phone (978) 239-8860
- Email joshresnek@gmail.com
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