David Handler Zinman

OBITUARY FOR DAVID HANDLER ZINMAN

David Handler Zinman, 92, died peacefully on February 12, 2023 in Seattle after living a meaningful and consequential life. He was born on October 6, 1930 in New York City to Meyer and Florence Zinman. David graduated from Columbia College in 1951, serving as a reporter on the Spectator, and earning a varsity letter on the school’s track team. In 1952, he received a Master’s degree from Columbia University’s Pulitzer School of Journalism. David served as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War. While stationed at the Norfolk, VA naval base, he met the love of his life, Sara. David and Sara were married for 50 years, living --depending on the season--in Point Lookout, New York; Conway, South Carolina; and Chautauqua, New York. In 1969, David won a Rockefeller-Sloan Kettering fellowship for the Advanced Science Writing Program at Columbia University and thereafter spent his journalism career as the medical and science specialist for Newsday. David wrote several books--including The Day Huey Long Was Shot and 50 Classic Motion Pictures. An avid runner, David ran marathons and road races late into his life, sometimes wearing a shirt announcing that “Grandpa just passed you.” Never slowing down, he spent his retirement years writing feature pieces as a columnist for the Horry Independent, creating plays and short stories, and working as an adjunct college professor teaching film history. David is survived and missed by his adoring children Caroline, Daniel and Elizabeth; his daughter-in-law Lauren; and his grandchildren Matthew, Samantha and Ava. David was truly special-- he had so many talents and passions, and he was so interested in and curious to learn about everyone around him. We were so lucky to have him. If we could have picked, we would have picked him.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.Evergreen-FH.com for the Zinman family.