Upper Montclair, NJ — Leon Zimmerman, a member of the Harness Racing Communicators Hall of Fame, returned to the Montclair State University campus to speak about his life in writing at a special seminar for English major students on Sept. 18.
Zimmerman, a 1959 graduate with a degree in English, recounted the experiences of his six-decade writing career as a national award-winning journalist for The Record of Hackensack and his own public relations and government affairs firm in New Jersey’s state capital of Trenton.
He was honored by the American Political Science Association in 1969 for “Distinguished Reporting of Public Affairs.” His extensive involvement in harness racing as a writer and legislative lobbyist for the industry led to his 2009 induction to the Communicators Hall.
In his presentation to the students, Zimmerman reflected on the wide range of stories he wrote during a 12-1/2 year newspaper career in positions as a reporter covering regional news, general assignment and features, county courts, government and politics, state house bureau chief and politics editor.
Among his most significant newspaper assignments was the globally prominent two-day, USA-Soviet Summit Conference with President Lyndon B. Johnson and Premier Alexi Kosygin in 1967 at then Glassboro State College (now Rowan University). When Rowan celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2023, Zimmerman was invited to be the featured speaker at its Summit Conference Commemoration.
He also covered a U.S. Navy anti-submarine warfare defense system, landing on an aircraft carrier in the Atlantic Ocean off Norfolk, Va., the 1968 New Hampshire Presidential Primary Election and Republican Presidential Convention in Miami Beach, National Governors Conferences throughout the United States, and interviewed Yankees catcher Elston Howard on the day he received the American League’s Most Valuable Player award.