NJ restaurateur whose land dispute with Donald Trump was fodder for ‘Doonesbury’ strip dies
By APWednesday, April 28, 2010
NJ Trump expansion foe cited in ‘Doonesbury’ dies
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — An Atlantic City, N.J., restaurateur whose holdout against a Donald Trump casino expansion was depicted in the comic strip “Doonesbury” has died.
The Jeffries & Keates Funeral Home says Clare Sabatini died Friday at her home. No cause of Sabatini’s death has been given. Her family hasn’t released her age.
Sabatini and her husband gained national attention from their eminent domain dispute with New Jersey casino overseers, who decided their restaurant property was needed for expansion of the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino.
“Doonesbury” creator Garry Trudeau depicted the dispute in a series of 1997 comic strips and sent the original drawings to Sabatini, who thanked him.
The Sabatinis eventually sold the restaurant they’d operated for 40 years to Trump for more than $2 million.
Through a spokeswoman Trump called Sabatini “a wonderful lady.”
