About
MY BIOGRAPHY
By
Geoffrey Zimmerman
Geoffrey Zimmerman personifies the quintessential writer. Some ask, “ Do writers undertake risky, dangerous, moving experiences in order to write about and share them – or is a writer essentially an experiencer, observer, documentor of life’s events and experiences? – sensitive to human emotion, nuance, trial and diversity, alert to subject matter ripe for sharing with readers.
OR
Do writers become writers out of the need to share moving and universal experiences with others? Feeling somehow removed or cutoff from the common man – who has no reality on the power and scope of human existence. Is it that we must reach out – in an attempt to broaden our own scope, in an effort, (so that we may) reach those unseen hearts and minds,( in which we are not in communion on a daily basis) that can relate, can understand, the impact of experiencing the emotional power inherent in life’s limitless possibilities.
I believe I am both, (or all three). Since I was young, I have undertaken to share with others my ideas, thoughts, feelings and experiences.
I made films, produced plays, wrote stories, told stories- all in an effort to share myself, (my thoughts, feelings and ideas) with others.
I have traveled the world. I have sought life’s most powerful experiences. Worked as a Nursing Assistant in an Emergency Room, flown airplanes solo, worked alongside movie stars, gone where my heart directed. Perhaps knowing that no matter where I was – what I was experiencing, I could expect redemption, payback, fulfillment, for I knew I was never alone, and always had someone I would share myself with. (My redemption would derive from the knowledge that I would be sharing my experiences with others).
My stories are simply an outpouring of my self. “Write what you know”. Human experience is what I know. Drama. Romance. Devastation. Desperation. Exhilaration. All places I’ve been. I am emotional, sensitive, idealistic, romantic. I believe that life should be large, stirring, moving, fulfilling, challenging – and when viewed form above – worthy of undertaking.
I view life as a gift, a “project”, something we are presented with that must not only be endured, suffered, seen through to the end – but relished, tested, pushed, prodded, played with, truly experienced with feeling – and shared.
I’m romantic, sensitive, dramatic. I need to share. I’m observant, driven by human experience. I was brought up by an actress for a mother. I’m educated, intelligent, descriptive. I pay attention to detail. I have been involved with motion pictures, (screenplays), television,( teleplays), and theatre, (scripts), my whole life. I want to make people laugh, cry, think, move, become inspired.
It is the robots and sellouts I disdain. Those who can cast aside their true selves for something they are led to believe or are shown from others.
It is the poet, singer, artist, adventurer, actor, builder, wanderer, searcher that I respect – for these people have come to realize the value of emotions, sense and experience.
Not only do I have an active and vivid imagination, but my life’s experiences have served to impress in me the impact of life – the trial – the challenge – the physical, spiritual and emotional strife that we all must face. I have witnessed movie starts performing before the camera, driven all night with rock stars, thumped the chests of hundreds of people on death’s doorstep, shoved young men my age into shiny stiff stainless steel morgue drawers, and seen a young resident doctor break down, facing the unimaginable task of saving his sister-in-law while knowing his wife and child had perished. I’ve hitch-hiked the Eastern coast line – twice. I’ve soloed in small planes 25 times, been caught in hurricanes, floods, and the earthquake of 89’ in San Francisco.
Stuff that I use – that I draw upon. My Life’s History – goes into my bag of story telling tricks when I set fingers to keyboard.
THAT’S ME.
