A playwright who draws heavily on his personal experiences for the material of his plays, Paul Zindel is best known for his largely autobiographical award-winner, The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds (1965). Using insights gleaned from his ten years as a high-school chemistry teacher, Zindel is also the author of several novels and three screenplays about young people. Zindel's art is one which realistically combines humor and pathos, poetry and terror.

Zindel was born on Staten Island, New York, to Paul Zindel, a policeman, and Betty Frank Zindel, a practical nurse. His parents separated, and Zindel saw his father rarely. His mother had many schemes for supporting her family; she worked as a hatcheck girl, a shipyard laborer, a caterer, a real estate salesperson, and a collie breeder. In addition to these rather unsuccessful ventures, she boarded terminally ill patients, an occupation Zindel gives to characters in...