More About the Author
DWIGHT JON ZIMMERMAN is an award-winning author and producer and a member of the Military Writers Society of America and the Western Writers of America.
Zimmerman's latest book is Saga of the Sioux (Henry Holt, fall 2011), a young adult adaptation of Dee Brown's classic history of the American West. It has been acclaimed by critics as "a powerful work" (School Library Journal), "a masterful adaptation" (VOYA), "cogent, heartbreaking narration" BCCB, "history classes and others interested in this period will welcome this offering" (Booklist), and others.
Zimmerman is presently writing a series of articles commemorating the 70th anniversary of World War II for Defense Media Network chronologically recounting events of that conflict. They offer a fascinating mix of history and human interest and can be read for free at Defense Media Network's website: www.defensemedianetwork.com.
Zimmerman is the co-author, with John D. Gresham of Uncommon Valor: The Medal of Honor and the Six Warriors Who Earned It in Afghanistan and Iraq (St. Martin's Press, September 2010), which has received the Military Writers Society of America's most prestigious honor, the MWSA Founder's Award for 2010.
His first book, First Command: Paths to Leadership (Vandamere Press 2005), which has a foreword by James M. McPherson, presents the pivotal challenges and events that occurred in the early careers of generals from George Washington to Colin Powell and how they overcame them. Zimmerman was the co-executive producer of the cable television miniseries based on his book. The miniseries debuted on the Military Channel in 2005 and has been regularly aired on the channel ever since. It won the 2005 Aurora Platinum Best of Show Award for Historical Programming. In 2009, the book received the Branson Stars and Flags Gold Medal Award in the Reference/Technical category. First Command is on the U.S. Army Chief of Infantry Recommended Reading List: Junior NCOs.
Zimmerman has written two acclaimed popular surveys of wars and weapons through the ages. The Book of War (Tess Press, 2008), about pivotal battles, leaders, and strategies from ancient to modern times, received the 2009 Gold Medal Award for Reference by the Military Writers Society of America. This was followed by The Book of Weapons (Tess Press, 2009), a critically acclaimed sequel about important weapons, weapon designers, and arms manufacturers and merchants throughout history.
Zimmerman wrote The Vietnam War: A Graphic History, illustrated by Wayne Vansant (Hill & Wang 2009), a ground-breaking book that for the first time recounted the entire Vietnam War in the graphic novel format. The Vietnam War: A Graphic History received the 2010 Gold Medal Award: Artistic/Graphic from the Military Writers Society of America and the 2010 Branson Stars and Flags Gold Medal Award in the photography/graphics category. Military Review, the official journal of the U.S. Army, placed it on its recommended reading list.
Zimmerman's young adult biography, Tecumseh: Shooting Star of the Shawnee (Sterling Publishing, October 2010), received the 2010 Bronze Medal Award: Young Adult from the Military Writers Society of America.
Zimmerman is the co-author, with John D. Gresham, of the critically acclaimed history of seven pivotal special operations from the Vietnam War to present day, Beyond Hell and Back (St. Martin's Press, 2007).
Zimmerman has written numerous articles on military subjects for Faircount Media and other publishers. His article, "Maritime Mobility," for The Shield of Freedom, an annual publication about the Coast Guard, was selected by the Naval War College for use in its curriculum. And his article about a special operations mission during the Korean War led by the theater's surgeon general that had high-stakes diplomatic consequences, originally published in The Year in Special Operations 2009 was selected for re-publication by the Journal of Special Operations Medicine.
Zimmerman has been a guest lecturer at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and the Naval War College.
He was a producer for the independent film, Trooper, which received the Bronze Remi Award at the 2010 Houston International Film Festival.
Zimmerman was the researcher for The New York Times Complete History of the Civil War, edited by Craig L. Symonds and Harold Holzer (Black Dog and Leventhal, November 2010).
Zimmerman began his career in publishing at Marvel Comics, where he held a variety of editorial positions. Among his Marvel comic book writing credits are stories for Spider-Man, The X-Men, and The Hulk, and other superheroes. In 1992, Zimmerman became executive editor of Topps Comics and was responsible for the editorial and art direction of its lines of media tie-in comics including series based on The X-Files, Mars Attacks, Jurassic Park, Zorro, Xena: Warrior Princess and other titles. In addition, Zimmerman was the writer, editor, and art director of Princess Diana the graphic novel biography of Diana, Princess of Wales published by Topps.
