Fredonia alumnus Phil Zimmer, ’69, a graduate of the Department of History, will be in-residence from Nov. 3 though 5 through the Writers@Work program.
Mr. Zimmer is a prolific author, specializing in writing for World War II magazines, and a former public relations practitioner. On Nov. 3 and 4, Zimmer will visit classes and conduct workshops for students on "Writing History for a Public Audience" and "Working with Editors."
On Saturday, Nov. 5, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Zimmer will help moderate a panel discussion among local World War II veterans at the Fredonia Technology Incubator at 214 Central Ave., Dunkirk, with Greg Peterson of the Robert H. Jackson Center’s Defenders of Freedom Project.
The veterans’ panel is free and open to the public.
The schedule for Mr. Zimmer’s campus events is as follows:
- On Thursday, Nov. 3, 2 p.m., a visit to the class, American Identities, with Dr. Christina Jarvis and Mark Mackey in Fenton Hall Room 176; and from 4 to 5:30 p.m., a student workshop: “Writing History for a Public Audience and Specialty Magazines,” co-sponsored by the History Club in the English Reading Room, in Fenton Hall Room 127. The workshop will discuss how writing history for a general audience is different from writing for an academic audience. It will explore techniques and strategies for writing for a general audience, using Mr. Zimmer's unique PHD (Personalize - Humanize - Dramatize) approach.
- On Friday, Nov. 4, from noon until 12:50 p.m., a visit to the class, The Cold War, with Dr. Peter McCord and Dr. Eileen Lyon, in McEwen Hall Room 202; and from 3 to 4:30 p.m., a student workshop, “Working with Editors,” again in the English Reading Room in Fenton Hall. Topics will include how to pitch a story idea to an editor, the use of gentle persistence, how to get a busy editor to respond to a query, and ways of identifying his/her specific writing style preferences. Methods for stretching a writer’s comfort zone will be included, as well.
Zimmer traces his career in communications and marketing back to his senior year at Fredonia when he served on the staff of The Leader.
Following graduation in 1969, he served three years as a city hall and general assignment reporter for the Jamestown Post-Journal. He was then called back to Fredonia to head the college’s news bureau. He worked more than five years in that capacity and in 1978, Zimmer was named Director of Communications at Chautauqua Institution. There, he headed up Chautauqua’s media, advertising, marketing, public relations and publications efforts, serving concurrently as business manager for the daily newspaper.
In 1988 he was named Director of University Relations at the University of Akron, the third largest school in Ohio. He raised the university’s profile, initiated a series of guest editorials by the president and others and managed to place them in newspapers and specialty magazines in Ohio and western Pennsylvania. He later held a somewhat similar position at the University of Vermont.
Now retired, he freelances stories in nationally-distributed specialty magazines. His diverse features on World War II and Korea have focused on specific battles such as the Battle of Britain or the invasion of Sicily, colorful individuals like Generals Heinz Guderian and Adolf Galland, and military developments such as a large underwater aircraft carrier developed by the Japanese.
He remains active in the community, serving as a volunteer with the Robert H. Jackson Center in Jamestown. He works there Mr. Peterson, co-founder of the center, in recording the experiences of local World War II and Korean Conflict veterans. He has also worked at the center with Fredonia interns Abby Blinn and Matt DeWinde, who have placed stories in the national media while working under his direction.
In addition, Zimmer is a World War II reenactor, often taking to the field as a British war correspondent taking photos at events across a wide five-state area. He holds a master’s degree in journalism from Penn State.
Writers@Work is a Fredonia alumni writers-in-residence series featuring both well-established and emerging writers, editors, and publishers in a range of professional and creative genres. The series seeks to connect Fredonia’s alumni, students, faculty, and community members with a focus on the diverse ways writing and the humanities make a difference in the world. The program’s goals include: to broaden students’ awareness of the value of writing to professional success; to showcase the myriad of ways writing and the humanities make a difference in the world; to help foster relationships between our alumni and students; to tell Fredonia’s story in new ways; and to celebrate our alumni’s achievements and learn from their experiences while engaging with community members.
Sponsors and partners for the series include the Fredonia Alumni Association, Fredonia College Foundation, Fredonia College Foundation's Carnahan Jackson Humanities Fund, Department of History and the Mary Louise White Fund of the Fredonia College Foundation.
The program is made possible by a partnership between the departments of Business, English, and History; and offices of Alumni Affairs Career Development.
