Zindel, Paul (1936-2003), was an American writer who gained success both as a playwright and as an author of young adult fiction. Zindel received the 1971 Pulitzer Prize for drama for The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds. The play tells the story of a teenage girl struggling to survive emotionally while living with her abusive mother and epileptic sister. Zindel’s other plays include And Miss Reardon Drinks a Little (1971) and The Secret Affairs of Mildred Wild (1972).
Zindel’s young adult novels are realistic portrayals of the world of unhappy teenagers. His characters must deal with such problems as loneliness, drug and alcohol abuse, and teenage pregnancy. Zindel’s first young adult novel was The Pigman (1968). He wrote a sequel, The Pigman’s Legacy (1980). His other young adult novels include My Darling, My Hamburger (1969), I Never Loved Your Mind (1970), Pardon Me, You’re Stepping on My Eyeball! (1976), The Undertaker’s Gone Bananas (1980), The Doom Stone (1995), The Gadget (2001), and The Egyptian Mystery (2002).
Zindel was born on May 15, 1936, in the Staten Island borough (district) of New York City. He endured a difficult childhood under a domineering mother that inspired much of his writing. Zindel studied chemistry at Wagner College. He earned a bachelor’s degree in 1958 and a master’s degree in 1959. He taught chemistry at a Staten Island high school from 1959 to 1969. He then became a full-time writer. Zindel wrote an autobiography, The Pigman and Me (1992). He also wrote screenplays for motion pictures and television and an adult novel, When Darkness Falls (1984). Zindel died on March 27, 2003.
