"The Pigman" is a Young Adult novel written by Paul Zindel and published in 1968. Zindel originally wrote the novel as a screenplay but, having no success finding a film maker for it, he decided to rework it and publish it as a novel instead. The book was very successful and went on to win many different awards … [Read more...] about The Pigman
Paul Zindel
Paul Zindel was born on May 15th 1936 in Tottenville, Staten Island, NY. The son of a policeman and a nurse, Zindel's father left to run off with his mistress when he was only two years old, leaving him with his mother and his older sister. Zindel began writing in high school and wrote many plays throughout his teenage years. He attended Wagner College where he trained as a chemist and later worked at a place called Allied Chemical as a chemical writer. Zindel also attended creative writing courses in college while working on his undergraduate degree. After quitting his job as a chemical writer, he began working as a Chemistry and Physics teacher at Tottenville High School on Staten Island.
In 1964, at the age of 27, Zindel wrote his first and most successful play. "The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-In-The-Moon Marigolds" became an off-Broadway hit and made it to Broadway in 1971 where it received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It was later made into a movie by 20th Century Fox in 1972. It was the success of this play that caused Harper & Row publishing house to contact him about writing for their label.
Zindel wrote 53 books aimed at young adults for Harper & Row during his lifetime. Most of them tended toward darker themes of abusive parenting, drug abuse and other problems that teens face.
In 1968, Zindel's book, "The Pigman" was published and became a success. The book was turned into a trilogy with "The Pigman's Legacy" in 1981 and "The Pigman & Me" in 1992. Some of Zindel's other famous works include: "My Darling, My Hamburger" (1969), "Confessions of a Teenage Baboon" (1977), and many more short stories and plays. Zindel also wrote many screenplays, including "Mame" the 1974 film starring Lucille Ball and "Babes in Toyland" 1986., the film starring Keanu Reeves and Drew Barrymore.
Zindel married Bonnie Hildebrand in 1973, and the two had two children named Lizabeth and David before divorcing in 1998. Lizabeth later went on to become a novelist herself while David became a filmmaker. In 2003, at the age of 66, Zindel died of lung cancer in Manhattan, NY. He is buried in Moravian Cemetery, Staten Island.
