Norman Zollinger
Norman Zollinger was an American author and businessman, born in 1921 in Chicago, Illinois. After graduating from Cornell College in 1944, he served in the U.S. Air Force during World War II, flying over fifty missions as a B-24 bombardier and earning decorations for his service. Following the war, Zollinger joined his father’s plastics company, eventually rising to a top executive position. However, in the late 1960s, he transitioned to a writing career, moving to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he opened the Little Professor Bookstore.
Zollinger found success in historical fiction, with his first novel, *Riders to Cibola*, published in 1977 and winning the Western Writers of America Spur Award for Best Novel. He continued to write multiple novels, often set in the American Southwest and featuring historical themes. In addition to his writing, Zollinger was passionate about education and mentorship, leading workshops for veterans and teaching at various institutions. His contributions to literature earned him several prestigious awards, including the Owen Wister Award for lifetime achievement. Norman Zollinger passed away in 2000, leaving behind an unfinished work titled *Coyote*.
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Norman Zollinger
- Born: November 8, 1921
- Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois
- Died: February 28, 2000
- Place of death: Albuquerque, New Mexico
Biography
Norman Zollinger was born in 1921 in Chicago, Illinois, where his father had established a plastics factory that engineered components for the telecommunications industry. A 1944 graduate of Cornell College, Zollinger joined the U.S. Air Force and was stationed in Roswell, New Mexico, an area with which he became enamored. He flew more than fifty missions over Europe during World War II as a B-24 bombardier, for which he was decorated.
After the war, Zollinger joined his father’s company and soon rose to the position of top executive. He remained with the business until the late 1960’s, when he began working on his first novel. In 1970, he left Chicago and his high-paying job to move with his family to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he opened the Little Professor Bookstore and pursued his writing career.
Zollinger’s first novel, Riders to Cibola, was published in 1977. A historical, Western-flavored work, the book concerns a young Latino living at the turn of the century who eventually becomes the owner of a large cattle ranch in New Mexico. Riders to Cibola won a Western Writers of America Spur Award for Best Novel in 1979.
Having found his niche in historical fiction, Zollinger subsequently penned a succession of novels primarily set in the past. His Lautrec (1990) was a mystery set against the backdrop of old Albuquerque. A Rage in Chupadera (1990), which won a second Spur Award, introduced crime-solving series character Sheriff Corey Lane, on assignment to the U.S. State Department, who reappeared in Not of War Only (1994) and Corey Lane (2000). Passage to Quivera (1995) was a sequel to Riders to Cibola. Chapultepec (1995) was a historical novel, as was Meridian: A Novel of Kit Carson’s West (1997). His only modern novel was his last full-length work, The Road to Santa Fe (2002), a political thriller published posthumously.
In addition to his writing, Zollinger taught summers at the Zollinger Taos School of Writing for seven years, and he led courses at the University of New Mexico Honors Program that he and fellow southwestern author Tony Hillerman initiated. Zollinger also hosted creative writing workshops for physically challenged service veterans in league with the Very Special Arts New Mexico organization and the Veterans Administration. For his efforts, Zollinger received the Western Writers of America Owen Wister Award for lifetime achievement, as well as the Southwest Fiction Award and the Parris Award of the Southwest Writers Workshop, among many honors granted him during his writing career.
Married to Dr. Virginia S. Malone Zollinger and the father of three children—Peter, Ann and Robin—Norman Zollinger died at age seventy-eight on February 28, 2000, of pancreatic cancer. A work-in-progress, Coyote, was unfinished at the time of his death.