About Us
John Zinn
John was born in Teaneck, New Jersey in 1946 the son of Ann J. Zinn (Winder) and Hank G. Zinn. A lifelong New Jersey resident, John and his sister, JoAnn, grew up in Wayne, New Jersey. John graduated from Wayne High School in 1964. Although a mediocre player, he earned two varsity letters in baseball – one as a student manager and the other as the third base coach of the 1964 Lakeland Conference championship team.
After graduation from high school, John went to Rutgers University in New Brunswick where he received his BA degree in 1968. While at Rutgers, John was a student manager on the basketball team under Coach Bill Foster who was one of his major role models. John is especially proud of being part of the 1966-67 team which was the first Rutgers team to play in a post season tournament.
When John graduated from Rutgers in 1968, he was also commissioned an officer in the United States Army. Before going on active duty, he attended the Rutgers Graduate School of Management where he earned an MBA degree in 1970. John entered active duty in May of 1970 and served with the Fourth Infantry Division at Ft. Carson, Colorado where he was awarded the Army Commendation Medal. In May of 1971, John went to Vietnam where he served with the 54th General Support Group in Cam Ranh Bay. At the conclusion of his tour in January of 1972, he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for meritorious service.
Upon his discharge from the military, John began a banking career at the Fidelity Union Trust Company where he worked for 11 years achieving the office of Vice President. . John married Carol Ann Dobkowski on April 19, 1975 (200th anniversary of Lexington and Concord) and their son, Paul, was born on January 1, 1979. In 1983, at the request of the Rt. Rev. John S. Spong, he became the Chief Financial Officer of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark. John served in that position until his retirement in December of 2007.
Currently John serves as Chairman of the Board of the New Jersey Historical Society, the state’s oldest cultural institution and only statewide historical society. He is also the chair of the New Jersey Civil War 150th Anniversary Committee founded to commemorate New Jersey’s important role in that era during the current Sesquicentennial observances. John is the score keeper for the Flemington Neshanock Base Ball Club – one of New Jersey’s two vintage baseball teams. He is a member of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR).
Paul Zinn
Paul Zinn is currently a business solutions specialist for Premiere Global Services (PGI:NYSE), an Atlanta-based business communications company.
Paul, born in 1979, grew up in Verona, NJ with his parents, John and Carol. There, he developed a fascination for sports, and went on to graduate from St. Benedict’s Preparatory School in 1997, where he was a four-year letter winner in tennis. While tennis was Paul’s major focus as an athlete, he developed interests in a myriad of other sports.
Following high school, Paul went on to attend Bates College (Lewiston, Maine), where he graduated in 2001. While his tennis career died out there, Paul became the Sports Editor of The Bates Student and the News and Sports Director of the student-radio station, WRBC (FM:91.5). He also wrote part time for the Lewiston Sun-Journal, based in Lewiston, Maine.
Upon graduation, Paul worked for a short stint in the sports department of The Jersey Journal (Jersey City, NJ), and then re-located to Gloversville, New York to take the position of sports reporter for The Leader-Herald.
After about a year, Paul made the decision to move into the field of business, re-locating once again, this time to the Boston, MA area. While working at Netspoke Inc., an audio and web conferencing provider in Woburn, MA, as both an account executive and regional sales manager, he started to take on writing again as a part-time project.
There was a bit of part-time writing work at The Sentinel & Enterprise in Fitchburg, MA, but a book on the 1916 baseball season, as well as other similar projects, became his focus.
Paul now resides in Action, MA, with his wife, Sarah, their daughter Sophie, son Henry and dog Penny. He is currently in the beginning stages of a second book, and is still a diehard fan of the New York Mets and Pittsburgh Steelers, as well as an avid golfer.