From Baseball to the State House: Journalist Leon Zimmerman ’59 Has Covered It All

Leon Zimmerman ’59 loved sports, and he also loved writing. Even before he set foot on the Montclair campus, he wrote a few sports pieces for the Weehawken High School newspaper.

Zimmerman chose Montclair because of its proximity to his North Bergen home, and because he earned scholarship support. The University hadn’t yet launched a formal journalism program, pushing him toward the English major. Unfortunately, he had misjudged the commute. “Without a car of my own, I had to get rides from friends or take the bus,” he recalls. “It took hours every day!”

By the time he became a campus resident in his junior year, Zimmerman was already sports editor of The Montclarion and was writing for the yearbook. “I really loved to write, and I wanted to write about sports,” he says. “I even took a minor in physical education. I had a great experience at Montclair, but when graduation day rolled around, I still wasn’t sure what to do next.”

Graduate study in journalism seemed like a good idea. He enrolled in the undergraduate courses he would need to qualify for a master’s program – news writing, feature writing, editorial writing. “I tried to do it all in one semester,” he says. “I was writing constantly. I was also exhausted.”

“Instead of continuing with coursework, I got a job as a regional reporter for the Bergen Evening Record,” Zimmerman continues. “I was covering the towns in the southern part of Bergen County, and learned that I liked writing about local government, schools, and the community. When I could, I wrote sports stories for The Record.”

And, so began a noteworthy career in journalism.

Zimmerman was only 21 when he began reporting. He graduated from night shifts as a regional reporter to days as a general assignment reporter, which expanded his reporting to politics and the courts. That included serving as the New Jersey State House bureau chief and politics editor.

“I covered what was one of the most closely watched murder cases in the state, which took place in Bergen County,” he says. “In the summer of 1963, two police officers were slain at a tavern in Lodi. I lived nearby at the time and was on the scene before it was cleared. I later covered the trial.”

During nearly 13 years as a reporter Zimmerman was often a witness to history, reporting on the 1967 USA-Soviet Summit Conference between President Lyndon B. Johnson and Premier Alexei Kosygin at what is now Rowan University. He also covered U.S. Navy anti-submarine defense operations from an aircraft carrier off the coast of Virginia as well as the 1968 New Hampshire Presidential Primary. In 1969 he was recognized by the American Political Science Association for “Distinguished Reporting of Public Affairs.” Some of his fondest memories include interviewing Yankees catcher Elston Howard on the day he won the American League’s Most Valuable Player award and being inducted into the Harness Racing Communicators Hall of Fame.

Zimmerman followed his journalism career with roles in public relations and government affairs, advocating for tax reform at the request of William T. Cahill, in his first initiative as New Jersey Governor.

The tales that led to Zimmerman’s news pieces are now the backbone of a book with the working title, From Bylines to Storylines: Favorites of an Award-Winning Journalist and Government Insider, due for publication in the fall. “I saved every byline I ever wrote,” he notes with a laugh. “I realized that the stories I wrote carried equally compelling backstories, as well as a lot of history. For example, I interviewed Yogi Berra when he was the spokesperson for the Yoo-hoo chocolate drink – which was, and still is, bottled in Carlstadt, NJ.”

Zimmerman has also generously shared his experiences with students, most recently a seminar for English majors at Montclair State University and as the keynote speaker for a Rowan University Commemoration of the USA-Soviet Summit Conference he covered as State House Correspondent for The Record. His contributions to Montclair also include a jazz record created in the 1950s by alumni and a collection of pictures. He is currently in the process of providing photos and stories he wrote about Yogi Berra, to be donated to the Yogi Berra Museum & Learning Center.

“I’ve been back to campus a number of times recently, for the seminars and also to visit my granddaughter who is a Montclair student,” he says. “I’m proud of Montclair’s high rankings, and I am amazed at the current number of students and programs. There were only about 2,500 students on campus during my years here!”

Students, including his granddaughter, often seek Zimmerman out for counsel. “No two students are the same,” he says. “I give advice that relates to what they are interested in. And then I encourage all of them to follow their dreams with dedication and perseverance.”