{"id":209485,"date":"2024-10-02T14:49:39","date_gmt":"2024-10-02T18:49:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/english\/?p=209485"},"modified":"2025-03-19T10:03:53","modified_gmt":"2025-03-19T14:03:53","slug":"oh-the-places-you-will-go","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/english\/2024\/10\/02\/oh-the-places-you-will-go\/","title":{"rendered":"Oh, The Places You Will Go!"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Wednesday, September 18, guest speaker Leon Zimmerman came back to Montclair
\nState University after graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in English in 1959. Zimmerman
\nreflected on his adventurous 12-and-a-half-year career with The Bergen Record<\/em>.<\/p>\n

From writing one or two stories for his Weehawken High School newspaper to being the
\nsports editor for two years at the Montclarion<\/em>, he \u201cwasn\u2019t the traditional English major,\u201d
\nZimmerman explained. Intrigued by his father\u2019s stories about famous baseball heroes of the time,
\nand inspired by his love of reading sports magazines, Zimmerman had ambitions to become a
\nsportswriter.<\/p>\n

While he never became a full-time sportswriter, he went on to major success at The<\/em>
\nRecord<\/em>. He began as a regional news reporter when he first joined its staff. \u201cI didn\u2019t know what
\nstory I\u2019d get, but it was exciting,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n

His assignments got him into many interesting situations, which included Zimmerman
\ngetting the opportunity to meet legendary Yankee players Yogi Berra and Elston Howard while
\nwriting a story about the building of the largest Yoohoo! bottling facility (at the time) in
\nCarlstadt, NJ.<\/p>\n

Zimmerman was also inside the Yankee locker room to do stories on other players. But
\nhis most interesting sports interview came when he met and interviewed Elston Howard at
\nHoward\u2019s home in Teaneck. Zimmerman got an early-morning assignment to cover a story about
\nthe Yankee catcher and left fielder, as he\u2019d just won The American League’s Most Valuable
\nPlayer in 1963. \u201cThe sports department didn\u2019t do a story about this, so they asked me to go to his
\nhouse and interview him,\u201d Zimmerman said.<\/p>\n

He fondly remembered not wanting to wake up Howard for the story since it was eight in
\nthe morning, but later found out that the Yankee player was already up; he\u2019d been baling water
\nfrom the basement since 3A.M. As a result, \u201cI was the first person who interviewed Elston
\nHoward for that award,\u201d Zimmerman laughed.<\/p>\n

He also covered stories that had him traveling to New York City, specifically
\nremembering writing about and interviewing a seminary student from Yonkers who was a
\nlongshoreman on the docks of New York during the summer. Zimmerman\u2019s journey also brought
\nhim to Norfolk, Virginia, to land on an aircraft carrier via a WW2 fighting plane, with six other
\njournalists who were invited onto the excursion. He recalled bringing a \u201cSend Help\u201d banner that
\nwas folded inside a road map in his car, as a joke. While on that assignment, Zimmerman met a
\nlieutenant commander from Bergen County who rescued United States astronaut Gus Grissom
\nafter a sub-orbital flight mission.<\/p>\n

Zimmerman\u2019s focus changed when he was assigned courtroom coverage for the paper. \u201cI
\nwould go to the courthouse every day to check lawsuits,\u201d he stated during his presentation.
\nDuring this period, he discovered a lawsuit with examples of racial and ethnic bias in real estate
\npractices in Wayne, NJ, which became a major story.<\/p>\n

Another experience came when Zimmerman covered the murder of two policemen in
\nLodi at a local bar. Because Zimmerman was headed home and the bar was on the way, he got
\nthere before any other reporter and before the scene was ready: \u201cI saw bodies under blankets,
\nbefore being escorted away. I worked late in the night and co-wrote the story about the murders.\u201d
\nZimmerman said. \u201cI also covered the murder trial.\u201d The crime that Zimmerman covered was the
\nTrantino Murder, one of the most famous of the era.<\/p>\n

Zimmerman later became a political writer during his time for The Record. Covering
\npolitical figures who came into Bergen County and New Jersey, he had the opportunity to meet
\neventual president Gerald Ford when he was the minority house leader, and covered large
\npolitical events in other states and territories, such as Kentucky, Idaho, Puerto Rico, and
\nMissouri. He also covered the Republican National Convention.<\/p>\n

His biggest achievement was his coverage of the United States \u2013 Soviet Union Summit in
\nGlassboro, NJ in 1967, earning himself a White House press badge. He would later donate the
\nbadge to Rowan University during its 100-year anniversary.<\/p>\n

Zimmerman later left the newspaper business and focused on politics and coordinated
\ncampaigns for New Jersey politicians. Because Leon had so many stories to tell about the first
\npart of his post-Montclair career, he told the audience he would be willing to come back again to
\ntalk about those other experiences.<\/p>\n

The English Department<\/a> and Office of Alumni Engagement<\/a> were pleased to have Leon
\nreturn many decades after his graduation. His story took him from Montclair to the Yankee
\nlocker room, to an MVP\u2019s living room, to an aircraft carrier, to a notorious murder scene, to the
\nRepublican National Convention, and to a major geopolitical summit–and that was just the first
\npart of his remarkable career.<\/p>\n

Leon\u2019s wife, son, and granddaughter attended the presentation to watch him tell his story,
\nalong with a fellow 1950s English major and current English majors and faculty.<\/p>\n

\u2013 Written by Victoria Ribarich<\/em><\/p>\n

Click on an image below to enlarge photo.<\/p>

Previous<\/a><\/div>
Next<\/a><\/div>\n