Sidney E. Zion (November 14, 1933, Passaic, NJ – August 2, 2009,

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

) was an American writer. His works include ''Markers'', ''Begin from Beginning'', ''Read All about It'', ''Trust Your Mother but Cut the Cards'', (collections of his columns), ''Loyalty and Betrayal: The Story of the American Mob'' and ''Markers'' (a novel). He co-authored ''The Autobiography of

Roy Cohn Roy Marcus Cohn (; February 20, 1927 – August 2, 1986) was an American lawyer and prosecutor who came to prominence for his role as Senator Joseph McCarthy's chief counsel during the Army–McCarthy hearings in 1954, when he assisted McCarth ...

''. He also was a co-founder and co-editor of ''

Scanlan's Monthly ''Scanlan's Monthly'' was a monthly publication which ran from March 1970 to January 1971. The publisher was Scanlan's Literary House. Edited by Warren Hinckle III and Sidney Zion, it featured politically controversial muckraking and was ultimate ...

'' magazine.

Biography

Zion graduated from

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

and

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by ''U ...

, working as a trial lawyer until becoming Assistant US Attorney for

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

in 1961. He then turned to journalism and writing novels. He worked for various New York publications, including ''

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 ...

'', ''

New York Daily News The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ta ...

'', ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

'' and ''

New York Magazine ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker'', ...

''. In 1971, Zion revealed that

Daniel Ellsberg Daniel Ellsberg (born April 7, 1931) is an American political activist, and former United States military analyst. While employed by the RAND Corporation, Ellsberg precipitated a national political controversy in 1971 when he released the ''Pent ...

was the source of the

Pentagon Papers The ''Pentagon Papers'', officially titled ''Report of the Office of the Secretary of Defense Vietnam Task Force'', is a United States Department of Defense history of the United States in the Vietnam War, United States' political and military ...

, the classified study on the history of United States' political and military involvement in Vietnam from 1945 to 1967. It detailed the Johnson Administration's deceit in Vietnam, and at that time was being published by the ''Times'' and ''The Washington Post''. Zion, who was not affiliated with any news organization at the time, made the revelation on a popular New York City radio show. Many journalists regarded his disclosure of Ellsberg's identity as a breach of professional ethics, and Zion said he was considered a "pariah" by journalism colleagues for several years afterward. He was a recipient of the Ben Hecht Journalism Award. He was married to Elsa H. Zion; their daughter,

Libby Zion Libby as a feminine given name is typically a diminutive form of Elizabeth, which is less commonly spelled 'Libbie' or ' Libi'. In recent years, it has been used as a shortened version of the name Liberty. As a surname, it can also be spelled ' ...

, died at age 18 in New York Hospital. Her death and the subsequent investigation and trial led to improvements in hospital residents' working conditions. Sidney Zion died in 2009 after a brief battle with cancer. He owned a steakhouse during the early 1980s called ''Broadway Joe'' that catered to theater people. It was located on West 46th Street. Mr. Zion was a Zionist and Jew who believed very strongly in the state of Israel. He was a devout Jew in his private life. Mr. Zion served on the Board of Directors (as well as council) of The Players in New York City, fighting anti-smoking laws passed during the Bloomberg Administration, believing those laws to be unconstitutional.

References

External links

Washington Post report

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zion, Sidney 1933 births 2009 deaths American columnists The New York Times writers Deaths from cancer in New York (state) American male journalists 20th-century American journalists 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American journalists 21st-century American male writers People from Passaic, New Jersey Journalists from New Jersey University of Pennsylvania alumni Yale Law School alumni