David Zielenziger ’74, who was chairman of The Daily Princetonian starting in 1973 and a lifelong journalist, died peacefully on Tuesday, May 20, at his home in Great Neck, N.Y. He was 72.
Zielenziger believed that the ‘Prince’ played an important role in investigative journalism, an opinion shaped by the era of Watergate and reflected in his determined reporting. Described as “a really dogged reporter” by Diana Savit ’73, then-senior News editor for the ‘Prince,’ Zielenziger was someone who worked his sources, traveled to unearth facts, and went where most reporters didn’t go.
“Whatever story he was on, he worked it like a terrier — no stone left unturned,” Savit told the ‘Prince.’
During his time as chairman, Zielenziger oversaw reporting of a demonstration at West College — now Morrison Hall — where students objected to the personal security detail accompanying Imelda Marcos ’77, daughter of the former President of the Philippines and a student at the University. He also focused on coverage of the beginning of the tenure of University President William Bowen GS ’58 and retrospective coverage of the eating clubs’ bicker process.
On campus, Zielenziger was also active in Jewish student life. He is remembered by many for his firm liberal beliefs, yet he always kept them separate from his reporting.
“His sense of integrity really was, in some instances, detrimental to his career,” explained Karen Haddy ’74. “He was not one to look at his own self-interest ahead of the truth.”
Leaving the Orange Bubble after college, Zielenziger joined the metropolitan staff of The Baltimore Sun. He then served as Kuala Lumpur Bureau Chief for The Asian Wall Street Journal from 1978 to 1982, where his reporting on political corruption earned him the ire of Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. Zielenziger also spent a year as Canadian correspondent for The Dallas Morning News.
Returning to the United States, Zielenziger turned his focus to reporting on semiconductors and computer software. He spent eight years writing about chips for Electronic Engineering Times, before joining the then-two-year-old Bloomberg News in 1992 to cover technology companies including Intel, AMD, Oracle, and IBM. After leaving Bloomberg in 2002, he worked for Newsweek, Thomson Reuters, and other publications.
Zielenziger’s journalistic ability is what stood out the most to his colleagues at the ‘Prince.’ He is remembered as a “creative journalist,” even when given very little to work with. As Savit recalled, “David could write about chicken noodle soup and make it interesting.”
Zielenziger iconically typed with two fingers.
“You could always tell David was in the newsroom because there were two fingers that were flying around like a machine-gun,” said John Horan ’74, his former Sports editor. “He always wanted to be right in the thick of it.”
Zielenziger was also the driving force behind the opening of the first kosher dining facility at Princeton in 1971. He convinced the administration to house the facility in the unused Stevenson Hall and helped raise the $10,000 dollars in funds to run the new kitchen.
Stevenson Hall also housed a non-kosher kitchen and served as a gathering space for students of different backgrounds. Zielenziger closely monitored the two menus of Stevenson Hall, making sure that the kosher menu was always comparable. Savit recalled Zielenziger’s words nearing the winter holiday: “they’re getting a Christmas dinner and we’re gonna get one too.”
Zielenziger was described by his close friend, Jeff Richards ’74, as “the moving force to make Princeton recognize institutionally the status and needs of Jewish students.” Richards explained that “to understand [Zielenziger] you had to know his passionate concern for politics and social justice.”
Zielenziger was drawn to civic engagement and to aiding the powerless, even as a teenager. An opponent of the war in Vietnam, he worked tirelessly to organize support for the upstart candidacy of Allard K. Lowenstein, the Democrat who won a Long Island congressional seat in 1968. At age 20, Zielenziger attended the Democratic National Convention in Miami as an elected delegate pledged to Sen. George McGovern of South Dakota.
Zielenziger was succeeded by Joel Goldstein ’75 as chairman of the ‘Prince,’ who recalled “a commitment to the underdog and people less fortunate than himself.”
Goldstein remembered finding a yellow note waiting for him at the chairman’s typewriter on the second floor when he took over from Zielenziger.
“David had left me a sort of note, and what he wrote was, number one: a year is a long time. Number two: your wife and family will be taken care of. Three: you will be rehabilitated with employment when this is over,” Goldstein said.
The tongue-in-cheek note was in reference to the infamous words spoken by John Dean, White House Counsel under Nixon, to procure the silence of one of the Watergate burglars. Zielenziger held fast to the ideals of investigative journalism while at the same time, he never lost his dry wit or his deep empathy — “a truly decent, smart, and funny human being,” as classmate Annalyn Swan ’73 put it.
Zielenziger was an avid correspondent, even after his career in journalism ended, maintaining separate email lists tailored to specific areas of interest. Many of his friends would regularly receive emails ranging from welcoming the Sabbath, to sending news links, to reporting on the intricacies of Great Neck local politics.
“Last Friday was the first time in I don’t know how many years that I didn’t get my weekly email from David with news, complaints, and trenchant comments,” wrote Savit in an email to friends the week following Zielenziger’s passing.
“Every Friday, he would always send me the link to the New York Times news quiz for the week, and also on Saturdays, the flashback,” recalled Richards.
Haddy told the ‘Prince’ that “[Zielenziger was] such a loyal Princetonian, in every sense of the word.”
Zielenziger is preceded in death by his parents, Eric and Ruth Zielenziger and survived by his brother, Michael Zielenziger ’77, also a former ‘Prince’ chairman.
Contributions in his memory can be made to the National Ramah Commission of the Jewish Theological Seminary, New York, or to the Center for Jewish Life at Princeton.
Kian Petlin is a News contributor for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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