In Memory of Gary Zingher

I dedicated The Wanderer and the New West to my friend Gary Zingher. Known to some as the Daffodil Kid, this great writer, school librarian and camp counselor passed away last month. My family and his many friends celebrated his life on May 26 in Callicoon, NY.

I said a few words:

When Gary would visit my family during summer breaks, we would hang out at home during the long days while my parents were at work. We’d play cards or board games most of the day, with epic tournaments of Yahtzee, Crazy Eights and Scrabble. Even though I was a kid, I don’t think he ever let me win.

We usually would order a meatball pizza for lunch. Gary claimed our local pizza place was as good as anything in New York City. That was a pretty high compliment coming from him.

We’d watch a lot of movies– videotapes borrowed from the library, or rented 4 for $4 from the local video store. He introduced me to a lot of classic adventure and sci-fi movies, like Kidnapped, Westworld and The Omega Man.

He was always writing notes and drafts in a pad for his next magazine article, and sometimes he’d ask me to help him brainstorm ideas for the theme of his latest piece. He’d also read stories I wrote and encourage me to keep at it.

Then my parents would come home, which usually meant a dinner like Beef Stroganoff or Spaghetti and Meat Sauce, and even more movies!

Those were some pretty fun days!

I write stories now, both as a journalist and as an author. When I was writing my latest novel, a sci-fi Western adventure, I thought back to the movies I watched with Gary, and our shared passion for writing.

So I put this at the beginning:

“Dedicated to Gary Zingher for igniting my fervor for action-adventure stories and for encouraging me to spin exciting tales of my own.”

We miss you, Gary.