Mark Lewis Zwonitzer (born August 28, 1962) is an American author and documentary filmmaker.

Books

Zwonitzer has written two non-fiction biographies.

''Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone? The Carter Family & Their Legacy in American Music''

"Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone?," written with

Charles Hirshberg Charles Hirshberg is an American journalist and sportswriter. He primarily writes for large-circulation magazines. His articles and columns have appeared in ''Time'', ''Sports Illustrated'', ''Life'', the ''Los Angeles Times'', ''The Washingto ...

, is a biography of the

Carter Family Carter Family was a traditional American folk music group that recorded between 1927 and 1956. Their music had a profound impact on bluegrass, country, Southern Gospel, pop and rock musicians as well as on the U.S. folk revival of the 1960s. ...

, musical pioneers who created the sounds and traditions that grew into modern folk, country and bluegrass music. The book was a finalist for the

National Book Critics Circle The National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) is an American nonprofit organization ( 501(c)(3)) with more than 700 members. It is the professional association of American book review editors and critics, known primarily for the National Book Critics C ...

Award in the biography/autobiography category in 2002. One reviewer wrote, "The Carter Family finally get their due in documentary filmmaker Mark Zwonitzer's comprehensive biography. Zwonitzer follows the Carter family's history from the 1891 birth of A.P. Carter, the musical founder, up through the late 1970s, offering background on the social, economic and technological developments that spawned American folk, country and rock music." Reviewer

David Gates David Ashworth Gates (December 11, 1940 – January 5, 2023) was a American singer-songwriter, guitarist, musician and producer, frontman and co-lead singer (with Jimmy Griffin) of the group Bread, which reached the top of the musical charts i ...

wrote in

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

, "Such characters and stories -- not to mention the music -- deserve a better book than ''Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone,'' and unfortunately no publisher will want one for another generation. The writing wobbles between workmanlike and cheesy."

''The Statesman and The Storyteller: John Hay, Mark Twain and The Rise of American Imperialism''

Due April 26, 2016, from Algonquin Books, an imprint of

Workman Publishing Workman Publishing Company, Inc., is an American publisher of trade books founded by Peter Workman. The company is comprised of either imprints: Workman, Workman Children’s, Workman Calendars, Artisan, Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill and Algonq ...

Films and Television

•

American Experience ''American Experience'' is a television program airing on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the United States. The program airs documentaries, many of which have won awards, about important or interesting events and people in American his ...

, television series, 1988–present, on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

. Episode director: "Joe DiMaggio: The Hero's Life" (S12, E14, 2000); "Mount Rushmore" (S14, E6, 2002); "The Transcontinental Railroad" (S15, E7, co-directed with Michael Chin, 2003); "The Massie Affair" (S17, E11 2005); "Jesse James" (S18, E7 2006); "Walt Whitman" (S20/E11 2008); "Robert E. Lee" (S23, E4 2011).

List of American Experience episodes ''American Experience'', originally titled ''The American Experience'', is an American television program and a PBS documentary series created by Peter McGhee. The series airs Documentary film, documentaries about significant historical events o ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zwonitzer, Mark 1962 births Living people American writers American filmmakers