Fast Eddie

From his high
school days as a
columnist for
"The Jewish
News" to
winning an
Emmy for
"Law and
Order,
Ed Zuckermans
career has taken
the fast track.

vania and then worked on a little
newspaper in the state," Zuckerman
-
recalled. "From there, I moved to
Boston, where I worked on weekly
mmy Award winner and
newspapers for several years.
Golden Globe nominee Ed
"After I began submitting work to
Zuckerman traces his writ-
national magazines, my articles
ing career back to Detroit.
appeared in Rolling Stone, Harper's,
His first professional job was high
Esquire and GQ. That led to writing
school correspondent for The Detroit
books."
Jewish News.
The Day After World War III
"I wrote the Numford Musings'
details a journalistic investigation of c -"
column," recalled Zuckerman, who
the U.S. government's plans for
won an Emmy in September for last
fighting, winning and rebuilding
season's work as writer-producer of
the country after nuclear war.
pre! •
"Law and Order," named the year's
1
ipeoissoltn
taiietr.
-
tlitSti014:111 as cam...hitt dirttios
" t1iite iyonths
Small Fortunes: Two Guys in
th,,,, ::oila:h::.::••
A,„I
3 . „:„.. ,, •:;
best TV drama.
o,,
ca: 1.4 .... . •
Pursuit of the American Dream
miTIS C't •',.7.•;11iire y 1%.,,,
gives an account of the lives
,
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ital 5.
...oinic .;,
...-
' ''1L
'''''''''' ''''''''''
and businesses of Texas entre-
..f'
''171:Vil;.a.:•,.sa4tr
• Isia Vsui.
preneurs.
'''' in•
,is'.
to , ittl, rtj,,,c7ii:,,t,,,,, ta. „I.
"I got into TV through a
M
'
1,
.
'111' ' :
.:0111:::::',;:zi:11t::,:1,
* i::,..i:
,411
r.E.,1.
friend
who offered me a
„'.1:"17: •is‘i'd7i
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111411\ .1•4 !,,..,
as aaj.wr
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1.7oi:7
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chance
to write a TV script
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it h h''' vi ; iv.... C" % .las tot n""" 1
;sal'-
"
: '1"...:1):
ad
''
111:1;r1
lla
for 'Miami Vice,"' Zucker-
man said. "He -was a journal-
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sein
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to
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t;ht
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ist/novelist turned TV writer
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and was brought into the
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us afar i n . '
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business by a friend of his,
tarti.• ,I;irtglioardl mast
410
4.17:,7„,.°,1,
'den:liana add a trieratirr al the ,,,,s edas.iinalai,at
,r*:•Elat. \
another journalist/novelist
"r
,771
,a7
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sbt."
s :it'd\ 7;:..
Thad 1.
r
e44::::'13i.',:'.:7:3 , , ..0 st: tgri..t S.'. ..
• \
i.;ai,,,,,
he Nadessatair NI
turned TV writer.
1 t.lit.:
d:s162,
, . ,
:al .,..:\:15:::::
4..Lrev...,
A u
,7,:cb:rt:siort. nit. f?' , esti
"There was a chain of
:11'tfaift:te7:
'',1
37.:' ,1
. :::::2::‘,
Cni
?OM 1( people switching from prirl-f\
media to TV, which is very
• st
.
0i 'Ortah4.Z
t :11':' 44'
ic
hard to do. It doesn't really
nt 21
i~~
happen that often. I kind
tt.;
'ItZ•t
!1:rdet tritzted
rtina
An
of fell into it, tried it and
tee the welfare
;
seemed to have a knack for
l et`. Maatia
.
sundord's
1i
Ln
ade
-itinsarr
it.''
C'•:• :::::7Tict:o • c1i t..ed
b.
h lb t
Other shows that have pro-
6.
ViikesBarrs, I 1,4.4..
et
;
Rau
duced Zuckerman's scripts
" S. 4as Masa in as
are "Hard Time on Planet Earth," "Star
Trek: The Next Generation" and
Above: A "Mumford
"Street Justice." The series "H.E.L.R"
Musings" column from
and "Reasonable Doubts" promoted
March 11, 1966
him to story editor.
"Most people who try moving from
Ed Zuckerman began writing for TV after many years of
prose to dialogue don't seem to be
sprinting from newspapers to magazines to books.
able to succeed because of the differ-
ent styles of writing," Zuckerman
said. "I had been writing in a style of
ty, where he earned a bachelor's degree
"The first time I ever got paid for
journalism
that tells little stories and
in English.
writing — $10 per Jewish News col-
creates
scenes,
and I think that was
In the name of investigative jour-
umn submitted once a month — hap-
pretty good preparation.
nalism,
Zuckerman
flew
in
a
giant
Air
pened while I was attending Mumford
"When I was a kid in Detroit living
Force plane that was refueling another
in the '60s."
on Greenlawn, I used to play cards
in
midair
over
Greenland,
rafted
down
Zuckerman, now executive produc-
every day after school with friends of
African rivers, visited with cult mem-
er for the 1997-98 run of "The Play-
mine. We'd sit around and trade wise-
bers in Haiti and chased killer bees.
ers," will be leaving the action-adven-
cracks. We were kind of nerdy kids,
"After I finished Cornell in 1970, I
ture show in the spring to write for
and this was our recreation.
taught at a junior college in Pennsyl-
other series and work at getting some

SUZANNE CHESSLER
Special to The Jewish News

of his own pilots on the air.
"People who do what I do are like
athletes," said Zuckerman, 49, who
wrote the premiere episode of "Law
and Order" as well as 30 other
episodes. "They go from studio to stu-
dio, signing a contract for a year or
two and then moving on."
Zuckerman's TV writing came after
many years of sprinting from newspa-
pers to magazines to books following
his graduation from Cornell Universi-

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1/23
1998

116