Sidney Zion


Sidney E. Zion was an American writer. His works include Markers, Begin from Beginning, Read All about It, Trust Your Mother but Cut the Cards,, Loyalty and Betrayal: The Story of the American Mob and Markers. He co-authored The Autobiography of Roy Cohn. He also was a co-founder and co-editor of Scanlan's Monthly magazine.

Biography

Zion graduated from University of Pennsylvania and Yale Law School, working as a trial lawyer until becoming Assistant US Attorney for New Jersey in 1961. He then turned to journalism and writing novels. He worked for various New York publications, including The New York Times, New York Daily News, New York Post and New York Magazine. In 1971, Zion revealed that Daniel Ellsberg was the source of the Pentagon Papers, the classified study detailing Washington deceit in Vietnam, then 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, 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 of The Players in New York City, fighting anti-smoking laws passed during the Bloomberg Administration, believing those laws to be unconstitutional.