Jeffrey Zaslow

Jeffrey Lloyd Zaslow (October 6, 1958 – February 10, 2012) was an American author and journalist, and a columnist for The Wall Street Journal.

Zaslow was widely known as a coauthor of books, and the sole author of numerous books.

Early life and education Zaslow was born in 1958 in Broomall, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia, one of four children of Naomi and Harry Zaslow. His father was a real estate investor. He attended Marple Newtown High School, where he was student council president his senior year. He wrote for the school paper and was in school plays while in junior high, starring in You Can't Take It with You. After graduating from Carnegie Mellon University in 1980 with a degree in creative writing, Zaslow began his professional writing career at the Orlando Sentinel.

Career

Zaslow first worked at the Orlando Sentinel, as a writer for that newspaper's Florida magazine. He then was a staff writer for the Wall Street Journal from 1983 to 1987 and columnist at the Chicago Sun-Times from 1987 to 2001.

Zaslow gained recognition as the author of an advice column called "All That Zazz", having won a competition (with 12,000 applicants) at age 29 to replace Ann Landers at the Chicago Sun-Times.

Zaslow's Wall Street Journal column, "Moving On", as well as his numerous books, focused on life transitions. in West Bloomfield, Michigan. His literary agent was Gary Morris.

Zaslow died on February 10, 2012, at age 53 in a car accident on M-32 in Warner Township, Michigan while on tour for his non-fiction book The Magic Room. Former co-author Chesley Sullenberger was among those who eulogized Zaslow at his funeral on February 13.

Following his death, Zaslow was the subject of a number of written tributes, including an essay by columnist Bob Greene, titled Jeff Zaslow's last lesson, pieces by fellow journalists and by bloggers, posts on the Wall Street Journal remembrance page, and eulogies by family members on the family's remembrance page.

Works

Non-fiction

Biographies The Last Lecture (2008, with Randy Pausch) Highest Duty: My Search for What Really Matters (2009, with Chesley Sullenberger), memoir The Girls from Ames: A Story of Women and a Forty-Year Friendship (2009), memoir Gabby: A Story of Courage and Hope (2011, with Gabby Giffords, and her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly) The Magic Room: A Story About the Love We Wish for Our Daughters (2011), memoir

Self-help Tell Me All About It: A Personal Look at the Advice Business by "the Man Who Replaced Ann Landers" (1989) Take It from Us: Advice from 262 Celebrities on Everything That Matters-To Them and to You (1994) Talk of Fame: Good Advice from Great Celebrities (1997)

Adaptations Sully (2016), film directed by Clint Eastwood, based on the autobiography Highest Duty: My Search for What Really Matters "Pilot's Code" (2025), episode of The Rehearsal in which passages on Sullenberger's life from Highest Duty are recreated.