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Paul Zindel (15 May 1936 – 27 March 2003) was an American playwright
Playwright

A playwright, also known as a dramatist, is a person who writes dramatic literature or drama. These works may be written specifically to be performed by actors or they may be closet dramas or literary works written using dramatic forms but not meant for performance....
, author
Author

An author is defined both as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created....
, and educator.

el was born on Staten Island, New York to Paul Zindel, a policeman, and Betty Frank, a nurse. Through his teen years he wrote plays, though he trained as a chemist at Wagner College
Wagner College

Wagner College is a coeducational private liberal arts college located on Staten Island in New York City. Wagner enrolls about 1900 undergraduates and 400 graduate students....
 and spent six months working at Allied Chemical after graduating. He later quit and worked as a high school science teacher at Tottenville High School
Tottenville High School

Tottenville High School is located at 100 Luten Avenue, in Huguenot, Staten Island, New York. It is located within walking distance of the Huguenot of the Staten Island Railway system....
 on Staten Island
Staten Island

Staten Island is a borough of New York City, situated almost entirely on the island of the same name in the extreme southwest part of the city....
.

964, he wrote The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds
The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds

The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds is a 1964 Play written by Paul Zindel, a playwright and science teacher. Zindel received the 1971 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the work....
, his first and most successful play.






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Paul Zindel (15 May 1936 – 27 March 2003) was an American playwright
Playwright

A playwright, also known as a dramatist, is a person who writes dramatic literature or drama. These works may be written specifically to be performed by actors or they may be closet dramas or literary works written using dramatic forms but not meant for performance....
, author
Author

An author is defined both as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created....
, and educator.

Biography


Early years

Zindel was born on Staten Island, New York to Paul Zindel, a policeman, and Betty Frank, a nurse. Through his teen years he wrote plays, though he trained as a chemist at Wagner College
Wagner College

Wagner College is a coeducational private liberal arts college located on Staten Island in New York City. Wagner enrolls about 1900 undergraduates and 400 graduate students....
 and spent six months working at Allied Chemical after graduating. He later quit and worked as a high school science teacher at Tottenville High School
Tottenville High School

Tottenville High School is located at 100 Luten Avenue, in Huguenot, Staten Island, New York. It is located within walking distance of the Huguenot of the Staten Island Railway system....
 on Staten Island
Staten Island

Staten Island is a borough of New York City, situated almost entirely on the island of the same name in the extreme southwest part of the city....
.

Career

In 1964, he wrote The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds
The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds

The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds is a 1964 Play written by Paul Zindel, a playwright and science teacher. Zindel received the 1971 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the work....
, his first and most successful play. The play ran off-Broadway in 1970, and on Broadway in 1971, and he received the 1971 Pulitzer Prize for Drama
Pulitzer Prize for Drama

The Pulitzer Prize for Drama was first awarded in 1918.From 1918 to 2006, the Drama Prize was unlike the majority of the other Pulitzer Prizes: during these years, the eligibility period for the drama prize ran from March 2 to March 1, to reflect the Broadway 'season' rather than being the calendar year....
 for the work. It was also made into a 1972 movie by 20th Century Fox. Charlotte Zolotow
Charlotte Zolotow

Charlotte Zolotow is an United States author, poet, editor, and publisher of many books for children.She has been published by more than 20 different houses ....
, then a vice-president at Harper & Row contacted him to writing for her book label. Zindel wrote 39 books, all of them aimed at children or young adults.

Many of these were set in his home town of Staten Island, New York. They tended to be semi-autobiographical, focusing on teenage misfits with abusive or neglectful parents. Zindel himself grew up in a single-parent household, his mother working as a nurse. They moved frequently, and his mother often engaged in "get-rich-quick" schemes that did not succeed. His father abandoned them. This upbringing was most accurately depicted in "Confessions of a Teenage Baboon".

Despite the often dark subject matter of his books, which deal with loneliness, loss, and the effects of abuse, they are also filled with humor. Many of his novels have wacky titles, such as My Darling, My Hamburger, or Confessions of A Teenage Baboon.

The Pigman
The Pigman

The Pigman is a Young adult literature written by Paul Zindel, first published in 1968. In his autobiography, Zindel revealed that "the Pigman" is based on his grandfather....
, first published in 1968, is widely taught in American schools, and also made it on to the list of most frequently banned books in America in the 1990s, because of what some deem offensive language.

Personal life

Zindel was married to Bonnie Hildebrand, a chemistry teacher and author, from 1973 to 1998. They had two children; novelist and actor, Lizabeth Zindel, and son David, a filmmaker. Zindel died in New York City from lung cancer in 2003.

Bibliography


Plays

  • The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds
    The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds

    The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds is a 1964 Play written by Paul Zindel, a playwright and science teacher. Zindel received the 1971 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the work....
    , 1965.
  • Let Me Hear You Whipser
  • The Ladies Should Be In Bed
  • And Miss Reardon Drinks a Little
    And Miss Reardon Drinks A Little

    And Miss Reardon Drinks A Little is an United States play written by Paul Zindel and published by Dramatists Play Services.The story surrounds three sisters: Catherine, an alcoholic; Anna, a hypochondriac and Ceil, an attention-starved socialite....
    , 1967
  • The Secret Affairs of Mildred Wild, 1972
  • Every 17 Minutes the Crowd Goes Crazy
  • Ladies At The Alamo, 1977
  • Amulets Against the Dragon Forces
    Amulets Against the Dragon Forces

    Amulets Against the Dragon Forces is a play by Paul Zindel. The play focuses on Chris Boyd, a teenager whose mother cares for the dying. It is set in 1950s Staten Island....
    , 1998


Novels

  • The Pigman
    The Pigman

    The Pigman is a Young adult literature written by Paul Zindel, first published in 1968. In his autobiography, Zindel revealed that "the Pigman" is based on his grandfather....
    , New York: Harper, 1968.
  • My Darling, My Hamburger, New York: Harper, 1969.
  • I Never Loved Your Mind, New York: Harper, 1970.
  • I Love My Mother, New York: Harper, 1975.
  • Pardon Me, You're Stepping on My Eyeball!, New York: Harper, 1976.
  • Confessions of a Teenage Baboon, New York: Harper, 1977.
  • The Undertaker's Gone Bananas, New York: Harper, 1978.
  • A Star for the Latecomer (with Bonnie Zindel), New York: Harper, 1980.
  • The Pigman's Legacy, New York: Harper, 1980.
  • The Girl Who Wanted a Boy, New York: Harper, 1981.
  • To Take a Dare (with Crescent Dragonwagon
    Crescent Dragonwagon

    Crescent Dragonwagon is a writer, teacher, and performer who works in the literary, culinary and dramatic arts. The award-winning genre-bending author of more than 50 published books, she's been called "an earthy, yarn-spinning woman," by the Chicago Tribune, and labeled "white-hot" by the Washington Post....
    ), New York: Harper, 1982.
  • Harry and Hortense at Hormone High, New York: Harper, 1985.
  • The Amazing and Death-Defying Diary of Eugene Dingman, New York: Harper, 1987.
  • A Begonia for Miss Applebaum, New York: Harper, 1989.
  • The Pigman and Me, New York: HarperCollins, 1992.
  • Attack of the Killer Fishsticks, New York: Bantam, 1993.
  • Fifth Grade Safari, New York: Bantam, 1992.
  • Fright Party, New York: Bantam, 1993.
  • David & Della, New York: HarperCollins, 1993.
  • One Hundred Percent Laugh Riot, New York: Bantam, 1994.
  • Loch, New York: HarperCollins, 1994.
  • The Doom Stone, New York: HarperCollins, 1995.
  • Raptor, New York: Hyperion, 1998.
  • Reef of Death, New York: HarperCollins, 1998.
  • Rats, New York: Hyperion, 1999.
  • The Gadget, New York: HarperCollins, 2001.
  • Night of the Bat, New York: Hyperion, 2001.
  • The Scream Museum, New York: Hyperion, 2001.
  • The Surfing Corpse, New York: Hyperion, 2001.
  • The E-Mail Murders, New York: Hyperion, 2001.
  • The Lethal Gorilla, New York: Hyperion, 2001.
  • The Square Root of Murder, 2002.
  • Death on the Amazon, 2002.
  • The Gourmet Zombie, 2002.
  • The Phantom of 86th Street, 2002.
  • The Houdini Whodunit, 2002.
  • Death by CD, 2003.
  • The Petrified Parrot, 2003.
  • Camp Megadeath, 2003.


Screenplays

Zindel wrote the screenplay for the 1974 film version of the musical Mame
Mame (film)

Mame is a 1974 United States musical film based on the Mame, and starring Lucille Ball....
, which starred Lucille Ball
Lucille Ball

Lucille Ball was an United States comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress, model , film industry, and star of the landmark sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show and Here's Lucy....
. He also wrote the screenplay for Up the Sandbox
Up the Sandbox

Up The Sandbox is a 1972 in film American comedy film film directed by Irvin Kershner.Paul Zindel's screenplay, based on the novel by Anne Roiphe, focuses on Margaret Reynolds, a young New York City wife and mother who, neglected by her husband and bored with her daily existence, slips into increasingly bizarre fantasies that involve, a...
 which starred Barbara Streisand. In 1985 Paul Zindel wrote the screenplay for Runaway Train
Runaway Train (film)

Runaway Train is a 1985 in film, Academy Award-nominated film which tells the story of two escaped convicts and a female train worker who are stuck on a runaway train as it barrels through snowy desolate Alaska....
 which starred John Voight, Eric Roberts
Eric Roberts

Eric Anthony Roberts is an American actor. His career began with King of the Gypsies , earning a Golden Globe nomination for best actor debut....
, and Rebecca De Mornay
Rebecca De Mornay

Rebecca De Mornay is an United States film and television Actors/Female. Her breakout film role came in 1983, when she played Lana in Risky Business....
 which was nominated for three Oscars. He also wrote television adaptations of Babes in Toyland
Babes in Toyland (1986 film)

Babes in Toyland is a 1986 in film television movie directed by Clive Donner which stars Drew Barrymore and Keanu Reeves. It was broadcast on NBC on December 19, 1986 and released on VHS....
 which starred Keanu Reeves
Keanu Reeves

Keanu Charles Reeves is a Canadian-American actor best known for his portrayals of Neo in the action film trilogy The Matrix, Ted Logan in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey, and Officer Jack Traven in Speed ....
 & Drew Barrymore
Drew Barrymore

Drew Blyth Barrymore is an American actor and film producer. She is the youngest member of the Barrymore family of American actors. She began acting when she was eleven months old....
; he also wrote the screenplay for Alice in Wonderland
Alice in Wonderland (1985 film)

Alice in Wonderland is a 1985 film adaptation of Lewis Carroll's books Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass....
 which had an all-star cast; and also wrote the script for A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court is an 1889 in literature novel by American humorist and writer Mark Twain. The work is a very early example of time travel in literature, anticipating by six years H....
.

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